


Dahlia's Magic

by lexiatel



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-04 05:04:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 87,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2953382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexiatel/pseuds/lexiatel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dahlia is the twin sister to Dudley Dursley. She is also a witch. With her mere existence, how will she effect the World? Features Original Characters, Harry Potter, Professor Snape, and many others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to Jk Rowling, I do not make any profit in writing this story what so ever, I am just having some fun.** _

**A/N: I love writing abnormal story lines, this came to me shortly ago (like yesterday), and I do hope no one else has done it. Suggestions and Reviews are always welcome. I will never demand them, but I will say it does encourage me to write more when I know people are enjoying the story. Please take your time in reading the first five chapters before deciding must about this story. Dahlia is _NOT_ the perfection that she seems.**

**_!Warnings! (-updated Dec 14th-)_ **

**_**Adult Language **(as of chapter 24)**** _ **

_Now that I have written up 25 chapters and know where I want this to go, I can safely say this starts off as a mild story and develops into more adult situations._

**_Alternate Universe_ **

_I'll just let you know now, your favorite characters will not be 100% to cannon. Same with the events that occur in this story. This is why I enjoy fanfiction; to change things on how I would like them to be. I am sorry if this offends you in anyway._

**Slash**

_Though technically not written up, there will be slash in this story; Draco/Harry at the very least. Possibly even a female couple._

**_Possible Warnings (for later in the story):_ **

**(1)Adult Romance**

_Possibly including sex scenes_

**(2) Graphic descriptions of queasy ingredients or moments**

_I am really good at this, and I just enjoy writing this kind of stuff._

_**Summary-** _

_Dahlia is the twin sister to Dudley Dursley. She is also a witch. With her mere existence, how will she effect the World? Features Harry Potter, Professor Snape, Draco Malfoy, and many others. **Confirmed Pairings; Dahlia/Draco, Harry/Draco**_

_**Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!** _

* * *

**Chapter 1;**

Dahlia stroked the hairbrush through her hair, counting each one under her breath. She watched as the knots from her sleep slowly disappeared, showing a smooth, shiny glow.

When she reached one hundred, Dahlia divided her silky hair into two and proceeded to braid it into perfect pigtails, tying them with bright green bands. It took so long to do get it just right, but that's why she got up so early in the morning.

Dahlia then cleaned her hairbrush from the strands of hair that had broken loose from her head and tossed it into her waste basket. She replaced her clean hairbrush back to its designated place on her dresser.

Unlike her brother, she was a clean freak. Her brother was an annoying, little slob, and if he wasn't her twin, she'd probably hate him. He treated their cousin like scum, making Mum and Dad think that Harry was a little brat.

Dahlia tried sticking up for Harry, but Mum and Dad said that she shouldn't blame herself for Harry's mistakes-- no matter how nice Dahlia was to him.

"Wake up, Potter!" She heard her brother shout, followed by a thudding.

Dahlia frowned. It was their birthday, and Dudley would be sure to make sure Harry that think he was lower than dirt today.

"Happy birthday, Shortcakes!" Her mum came in, smiling widely at her.

"Thanks, Mum." Dahlia smiled back.

"Mum!" Dudley shouted. "Harry won't get his lazy bum out! I want pancakes!"

"Coming, Doodlykins!" Petunia eyed Dahlia's hair for perfection before nodding her approval. "Now, don't you cook today." She shook a finger at her. "It's your birthday, Harry can handle it on his own for one day." She then left Dahlia's room.

Dahlia frowned. She wished they weren't so mean to him, but she knew why they were. To them, Harry was weird. Harry did things that were scientifically unexplainable and they didn't like it. In fear that they would also hate her, Dahlia kept her own "unexplainable abilities" a secret from them. Only Harry knew about what she could do, since he could relate.

She heard her mother scream at Harry's cupboard door, ordering him to get up and start breakfast.

After one last look at her green and white dress and straightening out a wrinkle, she went down stairs to join her family.

"Mum says I can't help cook today..." she informed her cousin. They were similar in size, only he was scrawnier than her. He didn't get to eat much.

"I'll manage." Harry said, trying to flatten his messy hair quickly to no avail.

Dudley started wailing about his lack of gifts then. Dahlia exchanged a roll of eyes with Harry before they ventured into the kitchen.

After Mum had promised to buy two more gifts to make Dudley happy, she barked commands to Harry who immediately started the list of things she had for him to do.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," he simply said as he performed his tasks.

"Morning, Pumpkin Cake," Vernon greeted his daughter and awaited her to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Mornin', Dad," she said, kissing him.

"Happy Birthday." He gestured to her pile of gifts. It was much smaller than Dudley's, but she wasn't as greedy or as demanding as him either.

"Thanks, Mum, Dad." Dahlia smiled and began opening her packages.

"Here, sis." Dudley tossed her a small giftbox.

"Thanks, Dud." She had already placed Dudley's gift in his pile earlier this morning, getting him the video game he had wanted.

Dudley's gift was a box of half eaten chocolates. She couldn't help laughing. She'd save these for Harry. Harry would like them. He wasn't allowed many sweets.

From her parents, she got lots of accessories; earrings, hair bands, necklaces and more. She also was given some pastel pink and green stationary since she was starting to write to a couple girls across the world, which had been a voluntary school assignment over the summer.

After breakfast, they were going to the zoo. She had the 'luck' of sitting between the two boys. Dudley's fat arm pressed against her face as he tried to flick at Harry's ear.

"Dud, don't," Dahlia whispered, pushing his arm away.

Her brother grumbled but listened to her, not wishing to get yelled at by their parents for making her upset.

"Behave yourself!" Dad warned Harry as he got out of the car. "Don't you ruin their birthday! No weird stuff! I'm warning you, boy!"

"He'll be fine, Dad." Dahlia forced a smile and took Harry's hand to lead him away from her father who looked doubtful.

Harry and Dahlia wondered over to the large snake cage, both having the same interest in snakes.

"Isn't he grand!" Harry said in awe.

"Yeah," Dahlia agreed. "I bet his fangs are huge!"

"Whoa!" Dudley exclaimed, hurrying over, smashing Harry out of the way. "Get a load of this thing!"

Dahlia helped Harry to his feet. He glared at Dudley angrily.

"Don't do it," Dahlia warned softly. "You heard what Dad said."

Harry appeared to not have heard her. She frowned as she watched Dudley fall forward into the snake habitat, the glass having had disappeared.

"Harry!" she scolded before rushing to help her brother. She stopped quickly as the huge snake, having had seen a chance to escape, cut her off, separating her from Dudley. It lifted its head to Harry.

"Harry! Look out!" Dahlia shrieked. But the snake didn't attack him. Instead, it hissed, spitting its tongue out before slithering out of the lobby and out of the building. Everyone around them screamed.

Dudley was wailing now. Dahlia noticed the glass had been replaced. She focused heavily on the glass, telling it to disappear. Mum and Dad pounded on the glass, shouting with anger and frustration. The glass vanished, and Dahlia watched as her parents hugged her brother who was bawling from fear.

"I couldn't help it..." Harry said to her.

"You must learn to control your powers!" she hissed quietly at him. "And your temper!" She huffed. "You're going to get into so much trouble now!"

"It talked to me," Harry quietly informed Dahlia.

"The snake?" she asked, momentarily forgetting about how much trouble Harry was going to be in.

He nodded.

"Really? What'd it say?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "It thanked me for setting it free."

* / *

"Why do you think we have powers and Dudley doesn't?" Harry asked Dahlia two days later. They were laying in the wooden castle at the local playground, hiding from Dudley and his friends who were looking for Harry.

"Maybe only nice kids can have magic powers," Dahlia said after a thought.

"Maybe..." Harry sounded doubtful. "We each have different powers though. You can control yours. And me, I can talk to animals."

"All animals?"

Harry wrinkled his nose. "Well, maybe I am limited to snakes," he chuckled.

"Or reptiles?" Dahlia suggested.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Shh...!" she warned Harry when she heard laughing from a distance. "They are coming. Stay here." She jumped out of the platform and grabbed a nearby swing.

"Where's Harry?" Dudley asked when they had approached her.

"No idea." She shrugged. "Mum made cupcakes though. She saved a whole dozen just for you."

Dudley grinned, licking his lips at the thought. He motioned for his friends to follow as he hurried home.

"Good one," Harry commented after Dudley was out of earshot.

"Yes, let's hope she really did make cupcakes." Mum always made sure to make something for Dudley and his friends, Dahlia had just taken a wild stab in the dark with the cupcakes.

"We better get home," Harry announced grimly, eyeing his watch.

They walked the block to their house, Dahlia stopping at the head of the drive to fetch the post. Something red and pretty lay in the box, catching her eye. She eagerly checked to see if the envelope was for her, thinking it may have been from one of her penpals.

"Hey, Harry... this is for you," she informed him slowly, holding it out so that he could take it.

Harry gawked at her, thinking she was joking.

"Go on, take it!"

He took it into his hands delicately as if it were a bomb. Harry had never gotten a piece of post in his lifetime.

"What's that?" Dudley asked when he seen Harry. His mouth was full of a cupcake. He gasped. "Is that a letter? Mum!" he shrieked. "Harry's got a letter-- who would write to you?!"

Dahlia noticed she had a letter too. One identical to Harry's. It came from a school; it was probably another penpal request, but why would Harry have one? He didn't participate in the penpal program.

She went up to her room to put her letter away. She would read it tonight, when the house was quiet. It was hard to read with Dudley's constant wailing and Mum and Dad's shouting.

"It's my letter!" Harry was running around the living room until one of Dudley's friends snatched it, causing it to rip into two pieces, with each boy holding on to a piece.

Dahlia pictured the bully's shirt pulling over his head in her mind, creating a distraction from Harry's letter. It happened then. The white shirt lifted itself right over his head, blinding him. The letter half that he had been holding fluttered to the ground when he began struggling to get his shirt repositioned. Dahlia snatched it up and secretly pieced it back together with her powers, handing it to Harry.

"What are Earth is going on in here?!" Mum came in shrieking.

"Harry's got a letter, and he wont let us read it!" Dudley whined.

"Give it." Mum snapped her fingers at Harry who obliged. She read the front of the envelope before letting out a squeak, a horrified look appearing on her face.

"Who's it from, Mum?" Dudley asked eagerly.

"No one!" Mum snapped, crumbling up the paper and stalking out of the room.

Harry looked dumbfounded and envious at the same time.

Dudley teased him before growing bored with it. He and his friends ran up to his room to play on his computer.

"I got a letter from the same place," Dahlia told Harry. "It's probably just a penpal sign up program."

Harry nodded distantly. "Probably so."

* / *

"Thank you for coming here," the old wizard said from his seat at the center of the Head Table.

"As if we had a choice," Severus muttered.

"Like you had anything better to do," Minerva said.

"I did not invite you all here to squabble amoung each other," Albus cut in quickly to avoid getting off topic. He set a pile of photos onto the table. "We have had an increase of Muggleborns this year, and we are going to need all the help we can get."

"Why am I here?" Severus asked. He had never helped with the muggleborns before; it wasn't the job he had signed up for. "And haven't you found a Defense teacher yet?" he inquired, noticing the teacher's absence.

Albus shook his head. "He's a bit late."

"Nice way to start your career," Severus said amusingly. "When you are ready for a real Defense professor, let me know."

"But you do so well in Potions," Filius argued.

"Yet, I spend more time putting out fires and sending students off to Poppy than I do teaching due to their refusal in paying attention," Severus grumbled.

"And you think Defense would be any different?" Pomona asked.

"Students enjoy Defense much more than they do with Potions, therefore, the majority of them do pay attention. I don't know about your house, Pomona, but just about all of my house pass every year in Defense-- even with the incompetent Professors we have had lately."

"Well, we can assume why the Slytherins do so well." Minerva gave him a look.

Severus gave her one right back. "Yes, Minerva, I have had the misfortune in breaking up quite a few unauthorized dueling matches. I'd say there's a close runner up. We can all guess which house that is."

Minerva huffed, unable to deny his accusation.

Albus cleared his throat, requesting their attention. "I had thought, with the Potter boy attending this year, that you would be interested," he said to Severus, answering his first question to change the topic. He began thumbing through the photos of the muggleborn children that would attend Hogwarts for the first time.

"And why, may I ask, would you think that?" Severus cocked up an eyebrow.

"Everyone else is," Albus simply answered.

"Yes, because surely I act like everyone else."

Albus paused in his work, giving him a serious look. "Severus, we need another assistant, we're short handed this year. You can not slither your way out of your teaching duty this time."

Severus pressed his lips together in annoyance. "Fine, but I don't want the Potter boy. Perhaps I can help a young witch instead."

The enormous Great Hall went extremely quiet as the entire staff looked at Severus with surprise.

"A girl, Severus?" Minerva was the first to ask. "Not a young wizard?"

"I have been a Professor for the past ten years and have learned that my words seem to absorb better into a witch's mind more often than a wizard's. If I am going to be forced into doing such a ridiculous task, I would sleep better knowing that my valuable time is not being wasted."

Albus nodded. "Very well." Severus didn't like the way his eyes twinkled at that. He'd known the man for most his life. Twinkling eyes from Albus Dumbledore meant Severus was about to have something dished to him that he probably wouldn't like.

"Here. You can assist this lovely witch. I have heard some stories about her," he chuckled lightly. "Which ever house she gets sorted in, she's going to be a handful, I would say."

"Sounds just perfect for your house, Minerva," Severus muttered, taking the photo with the child's information on it and putting it inside one of the many pockets of his robes. "Anything more you want to enforce onto me, sir?"

"Go on, Severus, I am sure you can't wait to return to your brewing," the old wizard excused him.

"I am about finished with what the school will need for the year," Severus informed, standing up. "I like to make sure everything is in place before the year starts."

"Always prepared, my boy," Albus said approvingly.

When Severus was out of sight, Minerva asked, "Who did he get?" Knowing that the headmaster likely had alterer motives.

"Dahlia Dursley." Albus' face was expressionless, but his voice held a bit of smugness.

"Oh, you are a wicked man, Albus," Minerva scolded teasingly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2;**  
Severus tossed the picture of Dahlia Dusley onto the Headmaster's desk. "I want a different child," he demanded.

"All the children have been selected already." Albus didn't look up from his work.

"Then I want to switch with someone!" Severus hissed.

"I am afraid it's too late for that." No sympathy was in the old wizard's voice.

"You gave me that child on purpose!" Severus hissed.

"What is wrong with her?" Albus asked innocently. "She's an eleven-year-old witch. I gave you exactly what you requested."

Severus crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Gee, I don't know!" he said with sarcasm. "Could it be because of who her mother is?! Or could it be because she is under the same roof of the boy that you insist I should look after like he was my own. Or, perhaps, it could be..." he paused, pointing his finger at the photo. "That-That--" He closed his eyes, swallowing a forming lump in his throat. "She looks just like her!" His deep voice had been shattered, a high pitched one replacing it.

"Do check in on Harry when you go there," Albus instructed, unaffected by Severus's complaints. "Report his condition back to me."

"You are serious?!" Severus waa in complete disbelief.

"I am."

"Why must it be _me_?"

"I believe you know the answer to that," Albus said dismissively.

* _/_ *  
"Harry!" Dahlia whispered, rapping on his "bedroom" door under the stairs. "Wake up!"

The door opened a few moments later, revealing a very sleepy Harry. "What?" he snarled, annoyed to have been woken up at an ungodly hour. He rubbed his tired eyes.

She stepped inside his closet of a room, sitting down on his bed. "Sit," she ordered. He did so, but not before sighing. Dahlia shut the door quietly with her foot.

"Why did you wake me up, Lia?" Harry reached above his head, taking down his glasses from a shelf.

"This." She shoved the letter to his chest. "Read it."

"Dear Miss Dursley, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts, School for Witchcraft-- Witchcraft!" he gasped.

Dahlia shooshed him. "Do you want to wake up Mum and Dad?" she hissed.

"Isn't witchcraft really bad? Isn't it the worship of evil or something?"

"Well, it's not always," she told him thoughtfully. "Not all witches are bad. Remember _The Wizard of Oz_?"

He nodded in acknowledgement.

"Besides, all witchcraft is, is the practice and belief in magic. Religious folk are the ones to say that magic is bad."

"Do you think it's real?" He asked, uncertain.

"Why not? Magic is obviously real." She took the letter from him. "They put together a list of things and some information. Seems like a lot of work for a hoax, doesn't it?"

He smiled then. "And they are inviting us to attend."

"Yes, isn't it exciting?!" she whispered in excitement.

Harry's smile faded. "Your Mum and Dad won't let us go. That's why they have been keeping the letter from me; they don't want me to go."

Dahlia's shoulders slumped to his words. Since she first read the letter, she had been looking forward to going to this school, never once did she think about her parents forbidding it.

"You better get rid of that letter," Harry warned. "If Aunt Petunia sees it, she'll pitch a fit."

Dahlia nodded dejectedly. She slipped out of Harry's room then and went up to her own. Dahlia sat on her bed, staring at the letter in her hands. The light of the moon shining on the parchment, highlighting the words. She sighed, shredded it into many pieces and tossed them into her waste basket.

Harry was right. Mum can never know she had received this letter.

The next morning, Harry and Dahlia stood working in the kitchen, making the family's breakfast. Two years ago, Dahlia started helping him after feeling that it wasn't right for him to have to do it on his own. Her parents got upset with her, but she quickly came up with a story that she liked cooking and thought it was unfair that Harry had gotten all the fun. It wasn't entirely true, but her parents thought that if she wanted to cook, they would permit it. They especially liked it when she introduced the family to new tastier meals than Harry had been making. Harry wasn't an awful cook, he just needed fresh ideas.

"Harry, you're supposed to fold the edges in," Dahlia reminded kindly.

"Right. Sorry." He watched as she showed him the proper way in folding the dough for their scones. She allowed him to take over, smiling as he picked up her lesson quickly.

"Thank God for cooking shows, hmm?" she giggled to him.

The rest of the family started coming down an hour later. First Mum, who seemed pleased enough to see Harry busy at work, then Dad, who sat down at the table to read the morning paper, and finally, Dudley, who came in, still dressed in his night clothes.

Dahlia wrinkled her nose as Dudley swiped his hand across his nose. She set aside two scones, one each for she and Harry. She learned at a very early age not to eat anything after Dudley had touched it, and since he had been taught no manners, he always got first go at the food.

Together, she and Harry set plates of food down for their family. Dudley, with his filthy hands and all, automatically snatched up three scones, buttering them with a thick layer.

Dahlia sat down, allowing Harry to set her plate of food down before her. This was something they agreed to allow him to do. It would please her parents, and if they were happy, they ignored Harry, something her cousin preferred.

As her parents discussed the day's current events, Dahlia caught something out from the corner of her eye. An owl was hovering on the outside of the kitchen window. She nudged Harry with her foot, earning a questioning look. Dahlia tossed her head lightly toward the owl. Harry started coughing when he seen it, choking on a piece of food, caught off guard.

"Chew your food, boy!" Dad barked.

Dahlia quickly got up from the table and hurried to the owl to shoo it away. "Go on!" she whispered impatiently. "Shove off!"

"What's that?" Dudley asked. "Is that an owl?"

Mum shot up faster than she had ever done before, hurrying to the window. "Shoo, you filthy beast!" She snapped a dish towel at it, but all that did was make the owl back up far enough away to avoid being smacked.

"It's got a letter," Dahlia noted. The envelope was tied to one of its legs. It looked like a copy of the same one that had come from that magic school the day before.

"Vernon!" Mum shrieked.

"Yes, dear." Dad got up, went outside, and started swatting at the owl with his newspaper to send it on its way.

Harry snickered at the sight of his uncle having no success with his task. The owl just hovered out of reach.

"Go sit down!" Mum ordered to Harry.

Harry ducked his head and sat back down at his place at the table.

The owl dropped the letter then and flew up out of Dahlia's sight.

Dad came in shortly after, huffing in anger, breathing hard from his previous, swift movements. He ripped up the letter, giving Harry a dirty look. "The bloody beast is sitting on the edge of the rain gutter!"

Mum gasped out in disgust. "I water the tomatoes with the water that comes from the gutters!"

"Then I guess the boy can clean the gutters!"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry said only to let him know that he had acknowledge the order.

"It's not Harry's fault that there's a crazy owl stalking him," Dahlia defended her cousi .

"Sweety," Mum started with a soft tone. "The owl is here for Harry, therefore, he is to blame for its nuisance."

After breakfast was finished, and the kitchen had been cleaned, Dahlia stood at the bottom of a tall ladder, gripping it to give Harry stability as he hosed the gutters out.

"Harry, I don't think this is going to help a bit," Dahlia noted, eyeing the flock of owls that started arriving, each one carrying a letter.

"You don't say?" Harry quipped, his eyes scanning the yard of birds. "Hey, who's that?" he suddenly asked, pointing up the street.

Dahlia had to walk a few steps away, shuffling through the abundance of birds before she saw who Harry was asking about. A man with dark hair was making his way up the sidewalk. He was dressed completely in black, matching his hair, making him look sort of like a shadow. Dahlia had a slight feeling that she had seen him before.

"Is he wearing a dress?" Harry asked curiously. He had gotten down from the ladder and joined her in watching the stranger.

Dahlia laughed. "No! It's a robe, like what Merlin wears."

Harry nodded, only having had read the book she referenced to for the magic side of it.

"Oh!" she said, her eyes lighting up. "Do you think he's magical?"

"Or he could just be strange," Harry said bluntly.

They watched as the man turned onto their walk path. Since the two were partially concealed by one of Mum's decorative lawn bushes, he hadn't appeared to notice them.

The owls separated, creating a clear path for him to stalk up to the front stoop to. As he approached the door, he pulled something out from his clothing.

"Blimey!" Harry gasped. "Is that a magical wand?"

The man's next movement answered Harry's question. With a delicate wave of his hand, the front door to their home opened and closed back up after he had swiftly stepped inside.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3-**  
Dahlia and Harry heard muffled screams coming from inside their home. They darted across the lawn to the window by the door, and watched as the rest of the family arranged themselves on the sofa, cowering from the man. He stood in front of him, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Shouldn't we go help them?" Harry asked.

"I don't think we can..." Dahlia said carefully. With her mind, she effortlessly opened the window.

"Harry; where's the boy?" the man was saying.

"Like we're going to tell you!" Mum snapped. "And don't think we don't know about your laws, freak! I know you're not allowed to attack us!"

"You seem to think that I care about the law," he growled threateningly, making Mum's eyes widen. He rose his magical wand to her.

"Wait!" Harry called out, climbing through the window. "I'm here."

"Harry!" Dahlia hissed, following him. "What are you doing?!"

The man's attention went on to them, first to Harry, then his eyes shifted to Dahlia, meeting with her green ones. His look softening just for a split second before his face went back to blankness. He eyed Harry over, trailing his eyes down the boy. "Didn't care to buy the boy his own clothes?" he asked, eyes still on Harry.

"They fit him just fine," Dad defended their choice in having Harry wear Dudley's hand-me-downs.

The man whipped his body around, showing a bit of anger. "And what, may I ask, are you doing with all the financial aide that you are getting for this boy?!"

"We feed him!" Mum said.

The man glanced at Dudley for a moment. "Yes, and it appears that your live in pig is snorting it all up."

Harry couldn't help but to laugh at the insult tossed at Dudley.

The stranger snapped his head toward Harry, curling his lip at him. Harry's grin disappeared quickly.

"Things better change, Dursley. Rather abruptly too. Else, I'll just have to send Dumbledore down for a visit. You remember him, don't you, Petunia?" A smirk appeared across his face as Mum's hands began to fiddle in her lap.

"How could anyone forget that man?" Her voice was high.

"Harry's assistant will be here shortly, I advise you to allow him to read his acceptance letter. Rubeus Hagrid is also a man who does not worry himself with following the law. What I mean to say, is this: he will do anything he can to get Harry Potter into that school. Understand?"

"How dare you threaten us!" Dad burst out, rising from the couch.

The man flicked his wand, sending Dad back to the couch. Dudley whimpered. "Go on, and find out what happens if you get up again," he warned darkly.

Dad's face became as red as a tomato, but he said nothing.

"I have another matter to address now. One that, I can assume, will be news to you." The man looked at Dahlia. "Have you told Mummy and Daddy about your magic tricks yet?"

"My daughter is not a freak!" Mum shrieked.

"You said it, not me." He pointed his wand at her parents and muttered, " _Silencio._ " He then turned to Dahlia. "Do you wish to attend the school or not?" he asked harshly.

Dahlia grinned. "Yes!" She purposely avoided her parents looks. "Only... I doubt they will let me go...and... I won't to go without Harry."

"Did you also wish to attend Hogwarts?" the man addressed Harry.

Harry nodded eagerly.

"Then, Miss Dursley, there's nothing in the world that can stop you from going. Do you have your Hogwarts Acceptance Letter?"

Dahlia shook her head.

The man sighed in annoyance. "And why don't you?"

"I threw it away so they wouldn't know that I have powers."

A nod. "Well, you can thank me later then. Come, let's go get your school supplies." He walked to the door, prompting her to follow. "Waste no more of my time, child, I do not have all day."

Dahlia glanced at Harry. "Can Harry come too?"

The man pressed his lips together. "I am not Harry's assistant. He will have to wait for his own to arrive." He then opened the door, letting himself out.

"Go on!" Harry pushed her forward.

"I'll tell you all about it!" she promised, hurrying after the man who was stalking away through the bare path that the owls had made.

She had to run to catch up with him. "So, what am I supposed to call you, Mister Shadow Man?"

The man lifted an eye bow. "Shadow Man?"

"Well, you're all in black like a shadow," she explained. "Do I still get to wear my pretty colors? Or does Hogwarts make you wear all black?"

"I choose to wear this color," he said simply. "You will call me Professor Snape."

"So you teach. What do you teach?"

"Must you ask so many questions?"

"Well, I am quite curious," she said. "Besides, if I go to school knowing how things work, your boss would see that you've done an excellent job in your assisting me."

She watched him make a quick glance at her, contemplating her words. The professor was silent for a few moments before saying, "I teach Potions. It's similar to Muggle cooking, only much more dangerous."

"Muggle?"

"Non-Magical people. Like your parents and brother."

Dahlia continued to ask questions, and he answered them quickly, with boredom, giving her the idea that he had been forced into this.

"Do you like teaching?" she wondered.

"That question has nothing to do with Hogwarts."

"Alright, tell me more about the houses then. Which is the best one, and how do I get in it?"

He scoffed. "Slytherin is the best one, of course."

I can assume you are sorted into Slytherin then?" Dahlia sent him a sly grin.

"I am the Head of Slytherin." A hint of pride hung in his voice.

"What's so great about it?" 

He gave it a thought. "Well, it has a snake for its mascot, and it's full of quiet, intelligent people."

Dahlia liked snakes. A lot. The other girls at school thought she was weird for her like of them. She envied Harry for his ability to speak with them.

"The house dormitory is stationed in the dungeons. It'll give any ninny the shivers. Rest assured. Only my house can handle such a climate as the underground," he paused abruptly, looking around carefully before he reached out and clasped her arm. She suddenly felt like she was in Dorthy's twister.

A moment later, Dahlia could breathe again, but she had the sudden urge to toss her breakfast up. Professor Snape stood near her as she took in deep breaths of air, swallowing the threat of bile.

"It gets better," he assured her when her episode was through.

"You could have warned me!" she gasped.

"It's not like I apparate adolescents everyday."

Dahlia looked around, noticing they weren't on Private Drive anymore. "Did we just teleport?"

Professor Snape tapped a brick wall with his wand and she watched in awe as the bricks folded themselves away from the spot his wand had touched, creating an archway for them to walk through.

"Yes, apparation is what wizards call teleportation. Come. Stay close," he said, leading the way onto a very busy street.

It was like she had just portaled into a different world. Many creatures that she didn't recognize roamed the streets. They and humans alike wore funky looking clothing, even more funky than Professor Snape's.

She watched owls fly above her head, carrying packages and letters. Occasionally, one would swoop down, delivering its load to the receiver.

Professor Snape appeared to have a destination, stalking through the streets at a steady pace. He looked back every so often to ensure Dahlia was still behind him. He finally stopped at a shop, pausing just long enough to hold the door open for her, gesturing her inside impatiently.

"Severus Snape!" the shop keep greeted. "Nice to see you, sir."

"Likewise, Mr. Apott." Professor Snape said distractedly, walking down an aisle.

"What's this shop?" Dahlia asked curiously as the professor grabbed a jar of crickets from the shelf and handed it to her.

"Apott's Apothecary," he answered, holding out another jar. This one looked liked it contained fingernails. "Potion ingredients."

"And we... make stuff from _this_?" She winkled her nose.

Professor Snape smirked, slightly amused by her disgust. "And then we drink it."

"Eww! _Why_?"

"They are potions." He started filling his own arms, since hers were now full. "They heal us, amoung other things, giving us even more ability than we already have. And, yes, some of them taste as horrid as they look."

Well, if she didn't need it, she wasn't going to drink it! Not just so she would become 'better' at what she could already do. Besides, Dahlia was talented enough.

"How am I going to pay for this?" She was suddenly alarmed, her parents were certainly not going to front the cost for these items.

"The school has a fund for those who can not afford to pay for their way. It's a good thing you've got me. I know exactly where to get what, which will stretch your budget and allow you to buy a bit more better quality items."

When they exited the shop, he shrunk the potion ingredients and stuffed them inside a bag. She took it from him when he held it out and followed him to the next shop; Madam Gintree's Cauldrons.

"Does she tell fortunes too?" Dahlia giggled at the name.

"No, but she'll talk your ear off, so if you must greet her, just wave when she says hi," he instructed before opening the door for Dahlia to go inside.

"Hello, hello!" the plump short lady greeted warmly.

As Professor Snape had said to do, Dahlia waved politely and followed the man while he searched through a shelf of cauldrons labeled with "Pewter". He tapped his wand against many of them, muttering something she couldn't make out.

"What are you doing that for?" 

"I am checking for quality. Lots of cauldrons are cheaply made but are easily undetectable. Fortunate for you, I am here to ensure you get the proper cauldron. This way, it does not blow up during one of my important lectures." He lifted a cauldron off the shelf and handed it to her. "Put your bag into it."

She did so and gasped as the bag disappeared. "Professor!"

Professor Snape rolled his eyes and reached in the cauldron, pulling the bag back out. "It's there, see? The cauldron is charmed to fit an abundance of objects."

"Ha, sorry!" She felt incredibly ignorant.

"Yes, well, you will learn things are not what the seem in this world."

As they stepped out of the cauldron shop, he asked what kind of an animal she wanted.

"What's it to be used for?" 

"Firstly, as a companion, but you will also use it to practice your skills on."

"Why would you want to make your beloved pet into a lab rat?"

The professor sighed tiredly. "Just decide so we can continue."

"Um... May I have a snake?"

She got a funny look from him. "Are you glutton for punishment?"

She grinned from his reaction. "Why do you ask?"

Professor Snape shifted his eyes from her. "Not many mothers let their children own a pet reptile."

"Yeah, but I can keep him locked up nice and safe, Mum will hardly notice."

Professor Snape said nothing more. He lead her to a reptile shop. "Let's hope your cousin doesn't request a rat."

"Harry wouldn't get a rat." Dahlia said with a giggle.

"No? What would he get?" The wizard appeared a bit too interested in Harry's choice.

"He likes snakes too, but I don't know what he'd get for sure. Certainly not a rat though."

"How much can I spend here?" she asked him, eyeing the snakes, setting her eyes on a green one.

"Two Galleons," he replied without a thought.

Dahlia knew the one she wanted. The Northern Rough Greensnake. He was solid bright green with a yellow belly. He was a tame, harmless snake that looked to be about two feet in length, so he was not very old. His price was only one galleon and also came with the habitat he sat in.

"I want him." She pointed up at the snake two shelves above her head. "Would you get him down for me please, Professor?"

Professor Snape took down the case that her soon to be companion was resting in.

"Thanks," she said when the case was in her arms, the snake lifted his head, tilting it curiously at her. Dahlia laughed. "Aren't you cute."

"Have you decided a name yet?" the professor asked on their way to the next place.

Dahlia gave it a thought. "I shall call him... Stivus."

"Fitting name, I suppose," he comment. He took her to the robe shop for her robes and hat, the book shop, then another shop to buy her a trunk to put all her things in when it came time for the trips to and from Hogwarts.

When they were through with all that, he announced, "Best for last."

"What is?"

"The wand shop, of course."

The girl's eyes widened. She had forgotten about the wand!

The professor sat in a chair and watched as the wand maker approached Dahlia with a wide grin. "Aren't you just a pretty girl! Ready to see which wand will adopt your hand?"

"Adopt? You mean I don't get to pick my own?"

The man laughed. "No, no, dear girl, why, the wand chooses you!"

Dahlia watched the man place a large stack of boxes on the counter, trailing his finger down the stack, stopping at one. He pulled it out swiftly and delicately held it out for her to take, as if he was a jeweler, offering her a necklace to look at. "Just a little flick will do," he advised, winking.

Dahlia flicked her wrist elegantly. Her eyes widened as she felt a hot, fuzzy feeling rush through her body, like someone had rubbed a warm fleece blanket against her real quickly. A spark shot out and hit the stack of wands, toppling them down.

"Oops, sorry!" she said meekly.

"Quite alright." He took the wand from her and picking up a box up from the ground. "Try this; griffin hair, wood from the whomping willow, ten inches."

Dahlia flicked her wrist again, feeling the same hot fuzz, but this time her wand lit up at the tip, shining brightly.

"Very nice," the wandmaker complimented. "That's your wand, Miss. That will be twenty galleons."

Professor Snape said no more to her until they returned to her door step. "From here on, you are forbidden to cast any magic unless it is at the school. I hear you have a foul temper, I do suggest that you can manage it until the beginning of the school year."

She gave him a funny look. She had no idea what she meant by the foul temper bit, but she nodded anyway. "Hey, thanks for everything, Professor!" she called after him as he went to turn away to leave.

He paused. "Not at all, Miss Dursley. See you at Hogwarts, and..." His eyes flickered upward to the roof of the house. "...Good luck with your parents."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4-**  
"How's Harry?"

"He looks just like his father," Severus muttered.

"I wasn't asking if you thought he was cute," Albus said.

The dark wizard narrowed his eyes. "Saying that he resembles a homeless orphan would be an understatement. I doubt they spend even one percent of the support they get for that boy on him."

Albus clenched his jaw at the news. "This is not what I wanted to hear." He was very quiet, and there was a lack of shine in his normally twinkling eyes.

"And you expected differently?! That woman is a hag! Always has been. Her pig of a husband and son are no different. I told you that it was a mistake sending him there."

Albus looked at Severus for a long moment before asking, "I take it that your day with Miss Dursley went well then?"

"What makes you think that?"

"You didn't insult her."

Severus shifted his eyes uncomfortably. "She is an annoying little girl who asks far too many questions."

"She sounds like your usual opinion of a typical young witch."

Severus crossed his arms. "She called me 'Shadow Man'."

"That doesn't sound like an insult to me, Severus," Albus said gently.

Severus eyes glazed over for a moment, staring off in space. He then blinked them back into focus. "I didn't take it as one."

Albus waited for him to explain, but he said no more about it. "You have thoroughly prepared Miss Dursley?"

"I did as you ordered." Severus sent him a pointed look. "And then some. Minerva will have a decently informed addition to her house."

"You are positive that she will be a Gryffindor?"

"Anyone who is willing to bring a snake into the house of Petunia Dursley is just asking for a death wish. Our estimated student body will probably decrease by one tonight," Sever projected dryly. "Or, perhaps, it may have had already."

* _/_ *

  
Dahlia frowned at three specific members of her family who were still sitting on the sofa.

"They have been like that all day," Harry informed. "I think they are stuck."

"They are going to hate me now," she told him dejectedly.

Harry put his arm around her in comfort. "You could have lied to that man and told him that you didn't want to go," he said reasonably.

"How long do you think I could have hidden it from Mum and Dad though?"

"Lia, you can control it, you may have been able to hide it forever."

"It's too late now." She turned away from her family. She was sure they were going to treat her like a freak after today. Like they treated Harry.

Harry helped her with her trunk that stored all her school supplies. Professor Snape had charmed it so it could carry an endless amount of items while also being very light weighted. The trunk was bigger than her though and very bulky, meaning she couldn't carry it on her own.

In her room, Dahlia told Harry about her day, explaining all the shops and spells she had seen.

"He's not so bad," she shrugged, speaking about Professor Snape. "It doesn't seem like he's a very patient man though. He gets annoyed all too easily. He teaches Potions. He kind of reminds me of Mrs. Lottin; remember her?"

Harry nodded. "Once we found that stray kitten and secretly dumped it off on her doorstep, she was less grumpy."

"Get this, Harry, we are going to make potions that have insects and creature parts in them, like butterfly wings!"

"Just like the brews in the books." Harry grinned. "I wonder if there's vampire breath. That would be wicked."

"There's fingernails from an ogre." She opened her trunk to show him. "It's really gross. I am afraid to open the jar." Dahlia wrinkled her nose, eyeing the disgusting pieces through the glass.

"Oh, Lia!" he exclaimed, lifting her wand out of the trunk carefully with admiration. "Is this yours?"

"Yep! I made the tip light up and everything! It was really exciting!"

"Can you show me?" he asked eagerly.

"Professor Snape said I can't cast magic until school starts."

"Oh," he acknowledged disappointingly, handing her the wand back.

"Don't worry, Harry! When that man comes here to assist you, you'll get a wand too! Oh, make sure you buy this--" She lifted up her cauldron, showing it to him. "You have to check if it is real though."

Harry took the cauldron and rolled it around in his hands, looking it over. "How do you tell either way?"

Dahlia scrunched up her face in thought. "Well, I don't know. Professor Snape was performing magic. He said it was hard to tell the difference between a fake and a real one."

"Let's hope I get lucky then," Harry grumbled with doubt.

"Look what else I got." She took Stivus's case out, showing off her new companion.

Harry grinned and opened the case. He hissed a hello before Stivus turned to him, intrigued with the boy who had a rare gift. Harry laughed. "He says your jar of crickets look very tasty."

Dahlia fetched one from the jar and placed it in the snake's cage. Stivus snapped at it immediately, swallowing it quickly. He flicked out his tongue happily.

"He's pretty neat," Harry said. "I am sure Aunt Petunia will adore him. Can't wait to see her reaction."

Dahlia laughed at his comment. She closed up her trunk. "Shall we start dinner?"

Harry nodded reluctantly before following her down to the kitchen. Together they prepared spaghetti bolognese and a green salad. By the time they were finished, their family had been released from whatever magic the professor had cast upon them.

Mum and Dad said nothing as they sat down, dishing their dinner, avoiding from looking at both Harry and Dahlia. Dudley stared at his plate, shuffling his food around. For once, his appetite was missing. "Why can't I do... _tricks_?" he finally spoke without looking up.

Everyone looked at Dudley like he had lost his mind. He didn't notice this since his eyes were focused on his poking around the carrots of his salad.

"You want to become a freak too?" Dad demanded.

Dudley looked at him, a scowl appearing on his face. "You really are going to hate Dahlia because of something she can't help?"

"Well," Mum huffed. "I won't have a freak for a daughter-- what will the neighbors think?!"

"They haven't thought anything weird in the past four years, why would they think anything differently now?" Harry asked, glaring at his aunt. "Lia has hidden it pretty well until today."

"No one was speaking to you, Potter, shut your mouth!" Dad spat.

Dudley got up abruptly from the table, knocking his chair backward in the process. "Go on, and hate her then!" He shouted at Mum and Dad. "But she's my sister, and I love her! Even if... she's..." he looked at Dahlia, trying to find a word not to insult her with.. "... _different_." He snatched his plate from the table and stalked off.

They all couldn't believe Dudley had just said something like that. He had never stood up for anyone before.

"Diddlykins!" Mum called after him, gathering her senses back up. She hurried to catch him as he thundered up the stairs.

"My dinner is ruined!" Dad muttered, standing from the table. "Thanks a lot!" he said to both Harry and Dahlia before he, too, thundered off.

Harry's mouth was still stuck open from Dudley's episode. Dahlia pressed his jaw up to close it. "I am not dreaming, am I?" Harry asked.

"No, Dudley just did something nice!" She clasped her hands together. "Maybe he's not such a toad after all."

"I guess not, but, if he doesn't mind your powers, why does he hate me so much? I was never really mean to him..."

Dahlia frowned. "I don't know..."

Later, when Mum had given up on trying to persuade Dudley's mind, Dahlia went over to Dudley's room and knocked on his door. "Dud, it's me. May I come in?"

Dudley's door opened soon after. His dinner sat untouched at his nightstand. "Mum thinks I hate her now," he announced devastatingly. "All because I won't discard you away."

Dahlia smiled and hugged her brother. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"Ugh!" He shuddered from her grasp. "Well, you don't have to kiss me!"

"Thanks, Dud," She told him meaningfully.

"They are being rather ridiculous!" he grumbled. "If Harry is right about it being four years since you have been able to do tricks, why should they care all of a sudden? You haven't really changed at all."

"What's your issue with Harry then?"

Dudley heaved himself onto his bed. His eyes widen for a moment as a loud snap happened upon his impact, making the bed collapse. Dahlia watched him grin when his shock wore off. He burst out laughing. "I am such a fat bloke!"

"Dudley...!" Dahlia scolded. "Don't call yourself fat."

"I am, aren't I?" He then frowned in thought. "Lia... why do you play with Harry more than me?"

Dahlia sat next to Dudley. "Is that why you hate Harry so much? You think I like him better?"

"Don't you?"

"Harry is a nice boy, and he gets mistreated, Dudley. You have everything; friends, toys and parents who love you. Harry lives in a closet. He doesn't even have his own clothes. He deserves something. Harry does a lot for us, and he's under appreciated."

"They aren't really my friends," Dudley said sadly. "They only like me cause they are scared of me."

"Do you want to play with Harry and I?" Dahlia asked gently.

"Harry wouldn't want to play with me... I have been too mean to him."

Dahlia set a hand onto her brother's arm. "Maybe, if you start being nice to him, he will play with you."

Dudley's eyes flashed with a bit of hope. "Do you think so?"

Dahlia nodded.

"Hey, do you think you can show me how to cook too? Like you and Harry do?"

"You really want to learn how?" She was in disbelief!

"If you and Harry go off to that school, I'd still like to eat a decent breakfast," he explained. "You must teach me how to make those scones, Lia! They are the best ones in the world!"

Dahlia laughed. "You could have just asked me to show you how before, Dud, I would have shown you anytime!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5-**  
Dahlia sat on Dudley's bed, reading one of her new books, watching her brother and cousin play their game every so often. Dudley had been allowing Harry to play his games with him, the two boys forming a bond of friendship quickly now that Dudley wasn't such a toerag anymore.

"Harry..." Dalia asked for her cousin's attention when she had suddenly thought of something. Harry was too absorbed in the video game to acknowledge her.

"No, Harry!" Dudley shouted. "This way!" The two boys were working together on annihilating a castle filled with ghosts. Dudley lead his character to a chest, looking for a key to a locked door.

Dahlia tried playing with them occasionally, but she was no good at those games. She preferred watching the boys, joining in on their moments of excitement during the many 'dangerous' adventures of their games.

"Found it!" Harry announced.

"Bring it here." Dudley, who was the master at games, made his character jump to show Harry where he was.

"I'm lost," Harry said after a moment, squinting at the screen. Moments later, he let out a screech, whipping his character around the other way after a very strong ghoul suddenly started chasing him down a corridor when he had opened the wrong door.

"Run!" Dudley yelled, giggling amusingly as Harry aimlessly steered his character from danger.

Harry finally reached Dudley and opened the door they needed to pass to the next level. "Now that is what I call luck." Harry let out a whoosh of air, wiping his forehead with relief.

"Pure dumb luck," Dudley agreed, grinning and punching him playfully in the shoulder.

"Can I talk to you now?" Dahlia asked Harry impatiently.

"Aw, come on, Dahlia, we're busy playing!" Dudley whined.

"I want him to try some spells with my wand." she said.

Both boys set down their console controllers. Dahlia had their full attention now.

"I thought you weren't allowed to cast magic?" Dudley inquired.

"Professor Snape said that I couldn't, he never said anything about Harry though. And, until I got my wand, I was permitted to perform magic. Harry doesn't have a wand yet." She held her wand out to Harry, who took it from her. "I was reading through the books that I got. After looking at your list of school supplies from your letter, I noticed an extra title. Professor Snape may have thought it would be a useful read." She opened the book up to a place in it.

"You read half of it already?!" Dudley asked.

Dahlia nodded with an answer. "It says here that a wand allows you the ability to control your magic. I was under the impression that you could only use your wand, and yours alone, but I assumed wrong." She looked up from the book to look at Harry. "Do you want to try a spell?"

Harry grinned widely. "Do you really have to ask?!"

Dudley turned off his game and stood next to Dahlia in heavy interest to see what Harry was going to do.

"There seems to be lot of simple spells. First Year spells they call them. There's one that makes your wand into a fireless torch. All you have to say is 'Lumos'. The more feeling you put into it, the brighter the light will be."

Harry nodded. "I remember reading the different spells." He gripped Dahlia's wand anxiously, excited to finally cast a real spell. He wet his lips. " _Lumos!_ "

The room was pierced with a light so blinding that it made their heads hurt with a sharp pain.

" _Nox!_ " Harry turned out the light after he recalled the spell on how to turn the light off.

"Whoa!" Dudley exclaimed. "That is brilliant! Painful; but brilliant."

"Try it again, with less... eagerness." Dahlia suggested.

Harry did so, and the light shined like a flash light. Dahlia grinned. "This is so so neat, Harry!" she squealed. "I can't wait until I can try it out for myself."

Harry matched her excitement. "Let's try more!" He closed his eyes in thought, trying to remember a spell off the list. He pointed to Dudley's closed bedroom door. " _Colloportus._ " A click sounded, indicating the door had locked.

"My God, do you know what you can do with all this?" Dudley asked in disbelief. His face then fell with sadness. "I feel so... _jipped_."

"Well, at least you're not a freak like us, Dud," Harry said quietly with a small smile.

"I think being a freak might be worth it!"

"I'll agree."

"Come on, there's lots of information we should read, Harry. We don't want to be the only ones who don't know anything."

The boys followed Dahlia to her room across from Dudley's. They sat on the floor, surrounded by a mountain of books. "This one explains about each house in full detail," she informed them.

"Hufflepuff?" Dudley raised his eyebrows. "Really lame name-- compared to the others, I mean."

"Yeah, I thought so too."

"Lia, you could easily be sorted into any one of these," Harry told her after she had read them exerts on each house.

"I was thinking about joining Slytherin, but..." she paused, deep in thought. Slytherin would not give her what she needed. She loved that house for many reasons, but she was beginning to think that she wouldn't fit in there well at all. It would definitely defeat any of her motives.

"Ravenclaw?" Harry suggested, eyeing her shelves of books that she kept in her room. Dahlia had kept every single book she had ever gotten in her life.

"Harry, I like books, but it doesn't mean that I want to live with a bunch of smart people. I would feel really dumb as a member of that house. I am not a genius or anything. Besides, I have seen the brainiacs at school, they never have any fun with their constant stressing over grade points. Can you imagine being surrounded by people like that?"

"True," Harry agreed.

"And you can't join Hufflepuff." Dudley pointed at a poem. "That's where all the kids go when they don't fit anywhere else. Would you want to be a reject?"

"You would get to meet a load of different people though," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Gryffindor sounds cool, that's where all the warriors go."

"And where does it say that?" Dahlia crossed her arms at her brother.

"It's the house of the brave and adventurous. Two things a warrior must consist of, or he'd never pass a level in Zelderac," Dudley said, grinning at his game reference.

Harry shrugged. "I am liking Hufflepuff, they are hard workers, and I would say they would have the most fun."

"How is hard working any fun at all?" Dudley gave him a confused look.

"What meant when I said that was that it appears that they don't worry much about anything."

"They are carefree." Dahlia nodded. "It would be nice to just... deal with problems as they come up rather than having to plan everything ahead of time."

Dudley snorted. "As if you can ever do that!"

Dahlia chewed on the inside of her lip. "Maybe I can."

Harry gave Dahlia a doubtful look. "Prove it."

"How?"

"Throw away your organizer," Dudley suggested.

Dahlia gasped. "No! I can't. I need it to remember things!"

"Like when to blow your nose?" Dudley asked.

"Or when to use the loo?" Harry added.

"When you can eat your daily allowance of sweets?"

"When to set the alarm clock?"

"Okay, okay, stop!" Dahlia sighed. "But I can't throw it out. I'll need my organizer for school, to make sure I am not late to any lessons."

"You're going to need a text one, Lia," Harry told her, looking at a page in her book.

"Why?"

"Batteries and electronics don't work at Hogwarts. Says so right here." He pointed.

Dahlia snatched the book from Harry and read the page.

"No video games?!" Dudley asked in horror.

"'Fraid not."

"Professor Snape left out that tad bit of information. That's a drastic change from our ordinary life."

"We can manage, Dahlia," Harry assured her.

* _/_ *

For the next two weeks, the Dursley house was divided between the kids and the adults. Neither group said much to the other.

During this time, Harry and Dahlia had tutored Dudley with cooking lessons and also proper hygiene when it came to handling food.

"You must always wash your hands before and after handling any food," Harry instructed sternly.

"That means no touching anything besides what you need to cook with. Including your mouth, eyes, nose, ears, hair and back. None of that," Dahlia said, matching Harry's tone.

"Especially your butt," Harry added. The three kids burst out in laughter at that.

When they finished helping Dudley with his first batch of scones, he had frowned at the mess of his finished product over Harry and Dahlia's perfectly formed treats. "Mine look so awful!"

"It takes practice, Dud," Harry assured him gently. "Why don't you have a taste?"

Dudley carefully took a bite, having doubts that it would taste any better than it looked. His eyes widened. "It's... _great_!" He exclaimed. "Even better than yours, Dahlia! How come?"

"That is called enjoying the fruits of your labour," Harry explained, smiling at Dudley's happiness. "It's what makes hard work pay off."

Mum came in the kitchen then, clearing her throat coldly for their attention.

"Yes?" Dudley asked, snatching another scone from the plate.

"Sit down," She ordered stiffly, gesturing to the table. "All of you."

They all sat at the dinner table, Dahlia setting the scones in the center of it in case her mother wanted to eat one.

"Since that man... _Snape_ ," Mum said his name like he was a fly on a pile of dung, "has threatened our lives, I see no other choice than to give Harry the guest room." She sighed with annoyance. "I do not know what we will do when Marge comes to visit, but we have no other choice."

"She can sleep in my room.," Dudley offered.

"And where would you sleep?"

Dudley shrugged. "Harry's room?"

Mum ignored that suggestion. She set her eyes onto Dahlia. "I expect you to continue to hide whatever freakish things you are capable off. I will not be considered as one of you."

Dahlia nodded. The look her mother gave her was upsetting. Like she was covered in some disgusting, smelly goo that no matter how much effort you made to remove it, it still clung on. "Of course, Mum," she whispered, blocking back tears, coming upon the realization that her mother was officially rejecting her.

"Since you seem so persistent on leaving this household, we have decided to just send you off. It will make our life easier anyway."

"Yes, because Dahlia has always made an effort to make your life terrible," Harry muttered.

"Shut it!" Mum hissed.

"While we are talking about new schools." Dudley reached into the pocket of his trousers. "Last year, as a joke, Edison's older brother talked us into applying for one. He assisted us with the forms. I am sure now that he was just playing us to be mean, but for some unknown reason, they have accepted my application." He handled the letter to his mother. "I didn't want to go before because I didn't want to leave Dahlia, but now that she is going to her own new school, I want to go. I just need your signature."

Mum gasped when she read the letter. "Diddy, this is a year around boarding school!" Her lip quivered in sadness.

"They have the most wicked rugby team, and I want to be on it."

"You're not going!" Mum said firmly.

Dahlia was curious as to what this was going to lead to. She was surprised that her twin had shown any interest academically, even if it was to pursue a sport. While he had decent grades, he had never shown to have a major interest in school. Although, he was an okay rugby player, even if he was big.

"If Dahlia can go to a new school then I want to too!" Dudley wailed, his face turning red, a perfect imitation of what their father could do. "That's not fair!"

"Oh, Diddlydums." Mum put her face into her hands and started sobbing. "I don't want to lose you too!"

"You have lost no one, Mum, you're just being stupid!" Dudley snapped.

Mum's wails then became louder as she succeeded in making Dudley feel guilty. Dahlia rolled her eyes. Dudley was such a sap when it came to Mum.

He sighed heavily. "I'll write everyday..." he promised quietly, trying to make her feel better. "It will be a fresh start for me, Mum. I can start dieting like the doctor has been wanting me to. They will help me with all that since they have athletic programs there. They won't want a fat kid on their team."

Mum looked at Dudley with endearment, her eyes puffy and red. "Are you really sure?"

Dudley nodded. "I want to at least give it a try."

Mum stared at her hands for a minute before she nodded. "Fine."

"You think Dad would care?" Dudley asked worriedly.

Mum smiled lovingly at him. "Your Dad will be very happy to hear that you have an interest in a sport."

* _/_ *

"You have to buy Harry some clothes too," Dudley said to Mum who just set a pile of slacks in the trolley for Dudley. They were at the mall, buying school clothes for the twins.

Mum sneered at Harry before trudging on.

"What was that man's name?" Dahlia asked Harry in a whisper. "The one Professor Snape threatened Mum and Dad with?"

"Um..." Harry looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Dumble...dore?"

"Oh, yes." Dahlia nodded. "Mum was scared of his name mentioning."

"Professor Snape seemed to enjoy her distress over it too."

"He was also upset by your appearance," she pointed out.

"Yeah..." Harry trailed off. No one besides Dahlia had seemed to care about his oversized clothing.

"I got an idea though," she murmured, grinning mischievously.

Harry raised his eyebrows up suspiciously. "What are you planning, Lia?"

Dahlia looked at her mother who was sizing a shirt up against Dudley. "You can't go to Hogwarts in Dudley's old, worn out clothes. This new school will be the beginning of something great, and you should dress the part. First impressions are very important."

"I won't argue if I can get proper fitting clothes." He pinched the oversized shirt he wore. "But I'd be surprise if you can coerce her."

Dahlia lead Harry to the section for smaller boys. "Pick out anything you want."

He eyed her uncertainly. "Are you sure about this? I would hate to have you get into trouble, all just for me."

She snatched a shirt from the stand. "Come on, just do it. I am sure this will work. You said you wanted new clothes."

He had to go to the dressing room to find out his waist size, but afterward, he took down five pairs of pants and five assorted colored striped shirts.

Dahlia then took them from him and started walking off toward her mother. "Don't forget shoes. Two pairs." Harry watched her, dunderstrucked as she placed them into the trolley.

"What are you doing?" Mum demanded in a hiss.

"Harry's new clothes," Dahlia announced.

"Put them back now!"

"But Mummy, if we don't get Harry some new clothes, Professor Snape will send that Dumbledore man to our house!" Dahlia wailed. "And after what Professor Snape did to you and Daddy and Duddlers, I am afraid to think what Dumbledore might do!"

Mum froze up in terror. She shakily nodded her head. "O-Okay... Tell Harry to get whatever he needs."

"Yes, Mummy." Dahlia turned from her mother and hurried back to the shoe department Harry was in. A triumphant grin displayed on her face.

"How did you do it?" Harry instantly asked, noting her smug look.

Dahlia giggled. "I just sort of reminded her of what Professor Snape had said, that's all."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6-**

Severus deposited the last of the Pepperup potions that he had made into the hospital's storage room. He had made an extra fifty cases this year. In the previous one, students had depleted the stock before the New Year had hit. Severus certainly didn't want to have to worry about making extra potions. Not with his extra responsibilities added on this year.

"Thanks, Severus!" Poppy said, coming in from her office.

Severus gave her a simple nod, knowing she'd not notice his reply anyway as she was also busy with the final preparations of the upcoming school year.

He still had a month to burn so he went down to his office to decide what he would make next. Severus scowled when he seen Albus sitting behind his desk like it was his own office. Severus would need to come up with a new locking spell.

Since he had been forced to help the Dursley girl, he had not seen Albus after giving his report about the Potter boy. It had been a pleasant and quiet few weeks. Time that, he could honestly say, he had enjoyed.

"Yes?"

"I went down to the Improper Use of Magic Office today," Albus started casually.

Severus suddenly had a bad gut feeling. "And?"

"The Dursley home is undergoing quite a few simple spell castings."

"And what does this have to do with me?" he said stiffly. "I told her the law, if she doesn't listen, that's a problem for the IUMO, not me."

"It is natural for a young witch or wizard to experiment with spells once they get their first set of books and wand." Albus set his hands on top of the desk and folded them.

"Yes, it is not officially forbidden until the first Holiday break. So again, why are you here bothering me?"

"Just thought I would share the knowledge." Albus stood up from the desk and walked to the door.

Severus lifted an eyebrow up in question as the man appeared to want to finish his game play.

"The spells are brilliant," Albus finally supplied. "Perhaps very similar to someone that I used to know." He then exited the office.

* _/_ *

  
Dahlia and Dudley crept into Harry's new room early in the morning and stopped by his bedside. "Happy birthday!" they cheered together.

Their poor cousin bolted up from his sleep. His hair, an absolute mess, sticking out every which way. His eyes found what they were holding, and Harry smiled widely. "Wow..." he breathed out in surprise.

"Dudley helped!"

"And the frosting is not from a tub!" Dudley informed proudly, handing Harry the plate of cupcakes, all decorated with wizard icons; wands, spell books and cauldrons.

"This is... great! Thanks a lot!" He set the plate down and jumped out of bed.

"We even got you gifts!" Dahlia told him.

"I'll get dressed and be right out!"

The twins left his room then, Dudley closing the door behind him. "Never seen anyone that excited before," he noted as they went into Dahlia's room to grab Harry's birthday gifts.

Dahlia smiled. "It's good to see him so happy. He has his own room, and his own clothes, and now he'll have his own video game."

"Mum doesn't even know that I asked for this to give to Harry," Dudley snickered quietly.

"So that's how you got it for him?" Dahlia's lips formed into a sly grin. "Dudley, you snake, you!"

"I am surprised she got it for me, given the title, even with my tantrum."

"Me too. Anything with wizards or witches, and she goes all nutty."

"Okay! Ready!" Harry appeared at the doorway, dressed in his tidy new clothing. His hair was still a wreck though.

They gave Harry their gifts to him. Dahlia had given him his own brand new copy of a book that he really liked, having had borrowed hers multiple of times. Harry eyes lit up when he saw the game though. "Wizard's Force?"

"I played it at Paul's house, you'll like it. There are a lot of wicked spells in it," Dudley said. "We can play it together."

Harry then thanked them both for their thoughtfulness. He was truly grateful. His happiness was ruined by Mum's screeching for him to start breakfast. Even on his birthday, he was suppose to work like a servant.

"It's his birthday!" Dudley reminded her bluntly.

As usual, Mum acted like Dudley hadn't said anything at all when he said something to stand up for Harry.

"It's okay, I am happy enough," Harry assured him, leading the way to the kitchen to make breakfast.

In the middle of their meal, there was a loud thud at the door. Harry automatically stood up to go see who it was.

"'Ello, Harry!" a big voice boomed. "Merlin, Dumbledore warned me yeh be small, but yeh just skin and bones!"

Dahlia hurried to the living room after hearing the name of Dumbledore's mentioning. Her family followed; Mum and Dad stopping a fair distance at the doorway between the kitchen and living room.

A giant of a man stood just inside of the house, shaking Harry's hand. Well, actually his whole entire body shook with the gesture. "N-Nice to me-et you t-oo," Harry struggled to say.

"Are you Harry's assistant?" Dahlia asked, approaching the man. "Mr. Hagrid?"

"Just Hagrid, and, yes I--" he paused, looking at her, then looked back at Harry, gasping "Blimey! Yeh two--! Yeh look just like 'em when they were li'l." He wiped away a tear.

"Like who?" Harry asked, backing away from the man as he entered more into the house to sit down on the sofa.

"Well, like yeh parents, Harry."

"You knew my Mum and Dad?" Harry was shocked.

"Of course I did!" the man burst out. "Everyone knew them-- they were famous."

"F-famous...? For what?"

"Harry, yeh must know about yeh parents. Tey were both a very powerful witch and wizard."

"I'm sorry..." Harry frowned, shaking his head. "I don't..."

Hagrid's eyes grew wide. He rose from the sofa in anger. "Yeh don't know nothing about them?!"

Dahlia jumped a mile, the sound of his roaring voice frightening her. She stepped several steps back.

"Only that they died in a car crash..."

"Car-- WHAT!?"

Dahlia leaped out of the man's path as he thundered over to Mum and Dad who cowered into the kitchen, putting the table between them. "Yeh didn't tell this boy about his parents?!" he demanded. "He doesn't know anything?!"

"Hey! I'm not stupid!" Harry stepped up Hagrid. "I know all sorts of things! I know math, and I can read--"

"I am not talkin' about tat, Harry. Yere parents didn't die the way yeh have been told." He glared at Mum and Dad.

"Well, how was I suppose to explain that they had gotten themselves blown up?" Mum huffed angrily.

"What are you talking about?!" Harry demanded. "Someone please tell me...! The truth!" He narrowed his eyes.

The giant man's face softened as he looked at Harry. "I just can't believe tey didn't tell you," he said tearfully. "It all begins with--" His face showed a bit of fear. "Blimey, I don't know how to tell yeh, Harry. Tere was a wizard. An evil one. People even still fear sayin' his name, even though he's no longer around." He shuddered. "I am afraid to say it."

"Please... write it down or something," Harry suggested.

Hagrid shook his head. "Never mind, I'll only say this once, so listen closely." He took a deep breath and whispered, "Voldemort."

He explained the dark days in the past before Harry was born. Those days continued up until the day his parents were attacked and killed. The wizard went to also kill baby Harry, attacking him too, for some unknown reason, but the spell back fired, striking the evil wizard instead. This is what caused Harry's mark that, up until this day, they had all thought was a birthmark. It was really a scar.

The giant blew his nose in a messy looking cloth the size of a pillow case. "It's just so sad!"

Dad snorted. "It was their own fault. Them weirdos were dumb enough to get themselves involved in such a stupid war. A good riddance to them, if I do say so myself!"

Hagrid took out something from his enormous coat; a pink umbrella. He pointed it at Dad. "Say another word, Dursley!" he snarled darkly. "I'll skin yeh alive, I will!"

Dad shrunk back immediately, afraid to get speared with the tip of Hagrid's umbrella.

"That wasn't a nice thing to say, Dad," Dahlia said with a frown.

Harry curiously asked an abundance of questions about his parents then, learning that they had been popular at Hogwarts, and had lots of friends. They were also part of a group that fought against the evil wizard in a war.

"Are yeh ready to get yeh stuff for school now, Harry?"

Harry nodded eagerly. "You know so, Hagrid! Dahlia has told me all about the shops and things. And we've been reading about Hogwarts!"

Hagrid patted his back roughly. Although, for Hagrid, it may have been gently because of his size, but Harry was tossed forward a bit with each impact that his hand made.

"Right then, Harry, let's get goin' then. We 'ave lots to do-- Oh! I almost forgot!" Hagrid took out a box from his coat and handed it to Harry. "Happy birthday! It may be a bit squashed, sorry about dat!" he chuckled sheepishly.

Harry grinned at the cake that lay in the box. "It's great, Hagrid! Thanks!"

"I'll take it, Harry," Dahlia offered.

"Thanks, Lia." He handed it to her.

"Bye, Harry!" Dudley and she waved to their cousin.

They didn't see Harry until much later that evening. Dahlia and Dudley were searching for insects for Stivus to eat. She stored them in a jar for later use. Stivus was slinking around happily in the cool grass, finding a snack here and there.

Harry came walking up the walk path, pulling a trunk behind him, and in one hand, he carried a cage that housed a white owl. He grinned when he seen the others. "It was great!" he said. "I have my own bank account! Mum and Dad left me a fortune. I am not filthy rich or anything, but I don't have to worry about clothes anymore, and I can afford all the school supplies I'll ever need! And... _everyone_ knows me, it's so weird. They think that I am a celebrity! They shake my hand and everything. Just like on the telly!"

"Wow! How exciting, Harry!" Dahlia was positively happy for him.

"Your owl is pretty," Dudley commented, sticking hid finger into its cage.

"I named her Hedwig. She'll deliver our letters to you when we write, Dud."

"Really?" Dudley's eyes widened. "Wicked! I can't wait!"

"Oh... will she eat my Stivus?" Dahlia asked in sudden alarm, picking up her companion and keeping him close.

"I don't know..." Harry frowned. "I hope not!"

The children watched the owl closely, but Hedwig appeared to have little interest in Stivus. Stivus showed no sign of being in distress with having a predator so close to him. Harry touched the top of Stivus' head for his attention. The boy then hissed a few things that neither Dudley nor Dahlia could understand. Stivus stuck out his tongue, presumably in reply. Harry then smiled.

"He's safe. He's been charmed to not look appetizing to her!"

"Great!" Dahlia let out a sigh of relief.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7-**

"Lia..." Harry knocked on Dahlia's door that night.

Dahlia turned on her light. "Come in, Harry."

He quickly slipped in and shut the door behind him. He was ready for bed, dressed in his pajamas.

She patted the bed next to her for him, inviting him to sit.

"I found out from Hagrid that both my parents were sorted into Gryffindor," he said softly.

Dahlia nodded slowly, taking in his words. "And now you want to be one?"

"Well... yeah. I think so," he said. "You won't be upset, will you?"

"I don't want to be in separate houses, they compete with each other." She shrugged. "I mean, I would hate to have to serve your head on a platter every moment possible."

Harry chuckled. "You want to play a chess match? See how long your mouth stays open?"

Dahlia scoffed. "One game out of them all, and you'll never let me hear the end of it."

"Hey, I need something to go on." He then frowned. "Today, a boy said that you usually don't know where you get sorted into until it happens."

"If you're truly meant to be in Gryffindor, there's nothing that will stop it from happening."

"What if we end up in different houses?" Harry asked.

"Then... we end up in different houses. We're still family, Harry. Nothing can stop that."

* _/_ *

One morning, as Dahlia was cleaning and trimming her nails before going down to start breakfast, Dad came into her room. It had been over a month since he had said much to her. Most of the time he would just a grunt hello to her. At this moment though, he looked uneasy and nervous. He had something to say.

"I want to talk with you." His voice was low and quiet eveb after he shut the door.

"Sure, Dad," Dahlia permitted him to start, turning her attention back to her nail filing, pretending to have no interest in what he was going to say.

"Put that down for a moment, would you?" he asked crossly, stepping up to her. "This is something you'll want to hear."

She looked up at him innocently, wondering what on Earth had him on the edge. He was squiggling like a worm on a fishhook. "Yes, Daddy?" 

He cleared his throat. "You moth-er..." He shook his head disturbingly, unable to finish.

"What is it, Dad?" Dahlia stood up in alarm. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing... life threatening." He took his pen out of the pocket of his business suit, and clicked it to expose the tip of it. He studied the pen like it was the most curious thing in the world. He twirled and rolled it between his fingers before he delicately set the pen on the top of her night stand using both his hands. "Mum must never know," he whispered sternly. "Never."

"Know what?"

With his index fingers alone, Dad pressed on the pen, it then transfigured into a wand right before them. Dalia's eyes grew wide, not believing what she just saw happen. "Daddy... You're a ...?" She looked up to see him shaking his head.

"No."

"But then how--"

"It's the only thing I can do," Dad told her shamefully. "I can't do anything besides _this_..." He pressed his fingers to the wand again, and it transfigured back into his beloved pen. It's no wonder he had that for as long as Dahlia knew him. Dad looked at her sadly. "I am... a failure."

"What?" she gasped. "You are not! Daddy!" She hugged him. "You can not think like that, that only makes you believe it!"

Dad stiffened. "They call my kind a squib. It's considered more scum than a mudblood." He then told her that his parents split up after finding out that he had no magic ability. His mother moved him to Europe from Canada to live in London. "Mother lived like a muggle, cut off all connections with her family... all for me. Useless as I was..."

"So, you're not a muggleborn?" Dahlia whispered.

"I come from a pureblood family. I am the only child of my mother. Father had two other sons after finding another witch who would give him the wizard heirs he needed."

"Wait... what about Aunt Marge?! Is she--"

"No... Mother also remarried. To the man you know as your Grandfather. Aunt Marge is my step sister. Mother was a witch with full self control. I never seen her cast a single spell ever again after she converted her lifestyle over. Your Grandfather never knew. You are... a lot like her." A tiny smile formed on his lips. "As you know, she died young from an unknown illness, but it was actually from a very bad case Dragon Pox."

Dahlia frowned disturbingly, watching her Dad as he went through the bad memories of his childhood, having lost his mother at only the age of fifteen. "I'm... sorry, Dad..." she said softly.

"Not to worry, Pumpkin Cake." He took a deep breath. "We're going somewhere today. I want to show you something. Something, that until now, I thought was going to rot forever away."

Dahlia nodded as he squeezed her shoulder gently. "Congratulations," he murmured, kissing her forehead. "You will be just as brilliant as she was." He left her room then.

Dahlia sat on the bed, shocked from the news. Never in her lifetime would she had thought that her father, Vernon Dursley, was from the wizard world...

* _/_ *

He drove her to London and took her to the same place that Professor Snape had apparated her to a month ago. Since he couldn't cast magic, she now knew how to get there on foot. From her bag that her dad had insisted that she would need on their outing, she took out her new text book that would serve as her organizer at Hogwarts. Quickly, as her dad made the brick wall fold back with his wand (still disguised as a pen), she wrote down the directions to Diagon Alley before she could forgot them.

"So, it doesn't take magic to form the arch?" she asked Dad as they stepped through.

"No, just a magical object-- any magical object from this world, that is."

"You mean there are other magical worlds?"

"I believe so," he answeres simply, leading her through the streets. Dahlia could tell that he hadn't been here in years. He kept muttering about how much things had changed.

They stopped out side of a huge white building. Gringgotts Bank. A goblin stood at the entrance, either as a guard or a door greeter, Dahlia didn't know which. He bowed to her as they walked in, Dad eyeing him carefully, obviously uncomfortable around the creature.

As they walked up to the main desk, Dahlia watched many goblins in awe as they appeared to have not noticed them, heavily absorbed in their work of weighing coins and scribbling on sheets of parchment.

"Excuse me. Vernon Dursley here." Dad spoke clearly to the Goblin that stood at the highest desk.

The Goblin, still poised in his writing, lifted his eyes up to Dad. "Are you here to create an account?"

"No, to open my vault." Dad put his hand into his pocket and pulled out his ring of keys, thumbing through them until he took off an ancient gold one and placed it onto the desk. Until this day, Dahlia had just thought that key was for decoration. She wondered what else her father was hiding from his family.

The goblin inspected the key before nodding. "Alright then." He then called on another goblin to escort them to Dad's vault, and they were lead underground that looked like the inside of the cave in a pirate film.

Dad gestured her into a train cart that had appeared on its own upon their arrival. It was a tight fit, but the three of them got into the train cart. It took off at such a quick speed, Dalia hiccuped. She screamed and shrieked many of times, shutting her eyes as the train cart jerked along its path until it came to such an abrupt stop that she thought she was going to fly out of it.

"I always hated the cart ride too," Dad said gently, unaffected. He tapped her back soothingly as she took deep shaky breaths. Her pulse racing like mad.

"How often must I do this?!" she shrieked.

Dad shrugged. "Twice a year? You might be able to get away with it once, though, knowing how you like plan ahead." He winked before following the Goblin to a door encased into the rocky earth.

A green puff of smoke escaped the vault as the Goblin opened it. He then moved out of the way, allowing Dahlia and Dad access. It was a very tiny room. About the size of Harry's old cub board. She and Dad couldn't fit in it together, but Dad seemed to know what he was looking for. There were shelves of what looked like urns, potions and jars of what Dahila guessed were potion ingredients. There were also quite a few bags of coins, most of them were sickles, but what really caught her eyes was the floor-to-ceiling shelf of books. This is also what Dad was interested in.

"Mother was a lot more wealthy when she arrived here in this country, but she converted it into Muggle currency throughout the years. I didn't come back here much after she had died. I had a good paying job, so I didn't really need these petty bits of coins." He gestured to the coins, careless. "This is worth more than any amount of Galleon though," Dad whispered mysteriously, holding out a handmade paperback book to her.

"What is it about?" Dahlia opened it up to the first page.

"Mother was fascinated with reptiles; snakes especially."

Dahlia grinned. "Really?"

Dad nodded. "She never finished this book, but you may enjoy it anyway. There's lots of interesting information in there. Including unfinished experiments she had been working on and also quite a few potion recipes."

"Thanks, Dad!" She tucked the book carefully under her arm and hugged him.

"It's good that someone will have use of her last book. She wrote many before we moved." He took Dahlia's bag from her and placed three more books into it. "Do not let your mother see any of these. They are published books by my mother."

"Wow... Grandmother actually was published?!"

"Yes, but thankfully, her books aren't widely known. They are popular in Canada, but not much further than that."

When they were back in the car, Dahlia couldn't help wondering why her father was so awful to Harry. "If I were any easy on him at all, your mother would surely know something is up. I love her, Dahlia. I won't hurt the boy, but I cannot lose your mother, as simple minded as she is. It is why I try to ignore him, but when he opens his fat mouth, and talks back to Petunia, I am given no choice but to scold him. Don't tell him this either, he's an awful liar. You and Duddlers definitely don't get your cunning abilities from that side of the family." He chuckle, slightly amused.

"You know about that?"

"Of course I know, Pumpkin Cake. I gather it is the only reason you don't argue with your mother's insistence of you looking like the perfect little lady. It masks your true personality. And I am not saying that you aren't a nice girl, but you sure know how to play any and every system that you manage to learn. I admire that."

She gave him a sly grin. "Thanks, Dad. You're the greatest."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8-**

On the morning of the day that Harry and Dahlia were going to be sent off to Hogwarts, Dahlia had gotten up very early. She hardly slept a wink, too excited to fall asleep.

With all her things packed, Dahlia spent most of her time making sure she looked in perfect order. She made sure her dress was wrinkle free and her shoelaces were at an even length. After an hour of working on her hair, she sighed. It was being extra annoying today, and it didn't want to work with her at all. Several stray strands stuck out of her pigtails.

She got up from her chair and called for Mum.

"Yes?" Mum answered coldly, appearing in the doorway. She then noticed Dahlia's messy hair and scowled.

"I can't seem to do it today," Dahlia informed helplessly, handing her the hairbrush.

Mum roughly did Dahlia's hair, not taking her scalp in consideration, pulling a bit too hard every so moments. By the time she was finished, Dahlia's hair look as perfect as her mother had always insisted that it should to be. Mum circled around her before nodding her approval.

"I'm sorry for disappointing you," Dahlia said meaningfully in a quiet voice as her Mum exited her room, having not said a word to her the entire time.

Her Mum pretended to have not heard her.

Dahlia wiped her nose with a tissue and dabbed her eyes dry before pulling her trunk out of her room, meeting Harry in the hall who was doing the same. His excited grin faded as he caught a look of her face.

"Have you been cry--"

"Let's fix your hair," Dahlia interrupted him, leading him to the bathroom.

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's looks like you've been through a windstorm. We're going to spike it; add some style to it. Like the rockstars. You're a celebrity, after all." With some styling gel, she fixed his hair, making his messy nuisance appear to have been purposely styled to look like it did. "Good?" she asked when she was through.

He smiled. "I like it."

When they lugged their trunks down to the car, Dad stuffed Harry's trunk in the back of the it, and Dahlia's was tied to the top of it, given its light weight.

On the way to King's Cross, Dahlia sat in silence between the boys who were saying last minute things to each other, both excited about their new schools.

They arrived at the train station and walked along the Platforms. Stopping between nine and ten. "Where's Platform Nine and Three Quarters?" Harry asked.

Dad grunted amusingly.

"Professor Snape said we had to run into the barrier between nine and ten."

Dudley hugged Dahlia tightly. "Please write me about everything."

"You too, Dud."

The two boys then exchanged goodbyes.

Dad looked down at Dahlia. "Well, come and give me a hug, it'll be nine months before I see you again," he said as if it were no big deal.

Dahlia smiled, running up to him, "Bye, Dad."

Dad's arms hugged her tightly for several moments before he silently released her.

"Don't get into any trouble, I don't want to be bothered with anything," Mum warned crossly before turning away from them, Dad quickly following.

"See you at Holiday break..." Dudley said sadly.

"Bye, Dud." Dahlia sniffed, watching her brother trail behind their parents.

They turned around in time to see a red headed boy sail into the barrier and disappear.

"Whoa!" Dahlia exclaimed, her family immediately forgotten. "Let's go!" She ran her trolley to the barrier , picking up speed before running into it. There was no impact as she teleported to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, suddenly surrounded by many people she assumed were wizards. She then saw the train that was named The Hogwarts Express and smiled widely. This was going to be the best day of her life.

Harry appeared soon after. "My gosh." He let out of breath of air. "I thought I was going to smash into it!"

They weaved through the students and their families, along with scattered cats, toads, hooting owls, and Dahlia even noticed a slithering snake that a boy was trying to catch.

Near the end of the train, Harry pointed out an empty compartment. He and Dahlia tried getting his trunk inside it, but it was too heavy.

"Where's Professor Snape when you need him?" Dahlia wondered, grunting as she pushed at Harry's trunk. "Too bad Hagrid didn't charm your trunk." She stood up, taking a moment to breathe.

"He can't cast magic, he was expelled a long time ago, they broke his wand and everything."

"Aww, I can't see him doing anything that bad, he seemed so nice."

"Need a hand?" a red headed boy, who was a few years older than them, offered.

"Could you? Please?" Harry accepted through a pant.

"Fred! Come help me!"

A boy, who looked identical to the first one, came up, grinning. "Oi," he greeted Harry and Dahlia.

Harry and the twins were able to get the trunk inside and placed, Dahlia's was easy after that.

"Oh, someone had her trunk charmed," a twin said.

"Did you do that all by yourself?" the other winked, teasing her.

"How brilliant of you."

"Thanks a lot for helping." Dahlia giggled.

"Yeah, thanks." Harry wiped a layer of sweat off his forward.

"Blimey!" a twin gasped. "You see that, Fred?"

"Aye, but it can't be--"

"Harry Potter," the boys said in unison.

"Yeah... it's me," Harry verified shyly as the twins looked at him like he was some kind of royalty. Dahlia was very surprised that they didn't bow down to him, with the way the were acting.

A woman then called for them, sending them off to her.

Dahlia grinned at Harry's lack of comfort at being the center of attention. "This is great, Harry. You're going to make so many friends here in this wizard world."

"It just feels strange. One day, I am this outcast, that everyone hates, and now... Now, I am this big... deal. I am important- yet I don't even understand why for."

"One day, you may just find out. For now, you should enjoy it."

The train started moving then, and Harry and Dahlia watched as families waved to the students one last time before the bodies on the platform got smaller and smaller as the train picked up speed.

"Hey..." another red headed boy, one their own their age, stood at the door shyly. "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Sure," Harry said, and Dahlia motioned to the seat next to her.

The boy stared at Harry off and on, pretending to have no interest in Harry until Dahlia finally said, "Well, ask him already."

"Ask him what?"

Dahlia rolled her eyes. "If he's Harry Potter!"

"Are y-you really?" 

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

"My brothers-- they joke a lot, I can never tell if what they say is the truth. So, do you have the scar?"

Harry lifted the small amount of hair that covered his scar.

"Blimey...! Never thought I'd get to meet you! I'm Ron Weasley."

"Ron." The twins from before had appeared at the door. "We are going to check out Lee's new pet."

"A _tarantula_." Dahlia had a feeling that they were trying to torment him.

"Good," Ron simply acknowledged his brothers, absolutely uninterested.

The twins introduced themselves to Harry quickly before closing the compartment back up.

Harry and Dahlia listened as Ron told his life story then, complaining about him being out shined by his brothers. He couldn't afford anything because he was poor. His robes weren't even new.

Harry made him feel somewhat better by telling him how his life at home had been up until recently. "But it could have been worse if I didn't have Dahlia." Harry placed an arm around her. "Lia is like my sister, she's really my cousin though."

Dahlia smiled, keeping silent, and allowing Harry to talk.

A while later, a woman came by asking if they wanted anything to eat, Harry went out to buy some sweets coming back with an arm load of strange candies.

Ron eyes shifted from his crusty sandwich to the sweets. "Go on, have some," Harry offered. "Whatever you like."

"Y-You mean it?" Ron asked in bewilderment. "I mean, it's yours and all."

"Of course I mean it."

"Doesn't your cousin want any?" Ron looked at Dahlia, having noticed she hadn't taken anything from the pile.

"I don't eat many sweets," she explained, smiling. "It would ruin my figure."

Ron looked at her like she was nutty. "You are joking, right?"

"She's not," Harry said seriously. "She allows herself a sweet in the morning, and a sweet in the evening. No more."

Ron didn't say anything, but Dahlia could tell what he was thinking by the strange look he gave her. He thought she had lost her mind.

As the boys ate through the pile of sweets, Ron explained each of the treats to Harry. Harry was especially fascinated with the Chocolate Frogs, which were frog shaped chocolate that was charmed to hop out of the box once you opened it. Each box also contained a collectors card.

"Dumbledore!" Harry shrieked, instantly showing Dahlia the card he had gotten, who wrinkled her nose.

"He doesn't look scary at all," Dahlia commented. "He looks sort of like the fictional Merlin though."

Harry and Dahlia gasped as the wizard disappeared. Apparently, photos in the wizard world were very different than in the Muggle one.

By the time all the chocolate frogs had been opened--Ron consuming most of them, making Dahlia wonder where he was able to store all that food-- Harry had quite a start in a collection of Chocolate Frog Cards. He and Dahlia looked them over with interest.

The boys tried coaxing Dahlia to eat just one of the Every Flavour Beans-- a candy that literally had every flavour known to man. Even if she was going to have a sweet, there was not a chance she would eat one of those! Especially after Ron mentioned that his brother, George said he had a booger flavoured one! Yuck!

Soon, a sad boy near tears, came by, looking for his lost pet toad. "I'll help," Dahlia offered.

He smiled, "Really? Thank you!"

"I guess I can help too," Harry said, getting up.

"Nah, you stay here. Finish your treats." Dahlia told him with a smile. "I'm sure we'll find the toad."

"I just don't know what happened!" the boy wailed out as they walked down the carriage.

"Calm down, we can't find him if we're under distress," Dahlia said soothingly. "What's your name?"

"N-Neville. Neville Longbottom."

"Dahlia Dursley." She held out her hand in an offer to shake his trembling one.

She heard snickering then as a girl with bushy hair come up. "I have been asking around," she told Neville. "But I would stay away from that compartment--" She pointed two compartments down from them. "The boys in there are awfully rude!" The girl huffed before continuing on.

Dahlia walked to the compartment the girl had gestured at. She saw two boys the size of Dudley and another one who was just a bit taller than Harry, with blonde hair, and very pale skin. They were laughing, making fun of the girl's teeth.

"Found a toad, but it's not yours. Sorry, Neville," Dahlia sighed, loud enough for them to hear.

She got their attention; three scowls. The blond boy stood up from his seat, sneering. The two others joined him, giving Dahlia the knowledge of who the leader was. "And just who are you?" he demanded, curling his lip.

Neville took off, not wanting to get into that mess for one minute.

"Who's asking?"

He straightened up arrogantly. "You don't know who I am?! Why, I am Draco Malfoy!"

Before she could reply, someone came by, pushing her out of the way. "Malfoy!" a girl gasped breathlessly with excitement. "Harry Potter is here! He's here right on this train!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9-**

Draco was interested to hear the news of Harry's presence on the train. Dahlia noticed his look became much more friendlier than before.

"Where's he?" Draco asked the girl eagerly.

"Somewhere around here." She shrugged.

Dahlia grinned, stepping into the compartment. "I know where he is."

"Oh?" He gave her a charming smile, having forgotten that she had just insulted him, or maybe didn't care now that she could tell him something he wanted to know.

"Yep. He's my cousin." She smiled smugly then when the boy looked a bit envious at that statement.

"Would you introduce me to him, Miss--" he paused, pressing her for a name to call her by, showing her a polite side to him.

"Dahlia Dursley."

"Never heard of that surname before." He flashed her a look of disgust, before his attractive, sweet smile returned. Fake as it was, she couldn't help admiring it.

Dahlia was amused by his snobbish attitude. He certainly had a lot to learn on how to treat people, especially herself.

She smiled, knowing this reaction would irritate him more than anything else. "Are you rich, famous or just that much of a snub?"

His eyes narrowed darkly. He took out his wand, pointing it to her a moment before replying, "Show me the way to Harry Potter or I will teach you how you should properly speak to me, mudblood. Starting with your pretty little braids."

_My, he certainly was quick to judge._

"I would put that away if I were you," she advised coolly.

"You think you are a match for me?"

Dahlia crossed her arms. "Do you think the boy that I grew up with, who considers me his sister, would befriend you if you were to upset me in any way at all?"

She watched him purse his lips in annoyance.

"Just put your wand away. We both know you're not going whack my hair up into tiny little pieces."

Draco pocketed his wand. He sighed, pulling out a coin purse. "What's your price?"

"Price?" Dahlia scoffed. "I am not going to sell my cousin!"

The boy studied her with narrowed eyes. "Then what is it that you want?"

She laughed. "It's just fun watching you squirm!"

Draco grunted. "I was going to offer Potter the chance to go under my wing and introduce him to some real wizards."

"You are implying that I am not a real witch?"

"You are a mudblood," he snarled. "You are not a real witch."

Dahlia raised her eyebrows up at him. "I shall have to prove to you differently sometime then." 

"Yes, you do that," Draco drawled in amusement. "See where that gets you."

"Oh, Harry! That Malfoy boy! He called me names and everything! He was so mean to me!" Dahlia wailed dramatically under her breath, showing Draco what power she had over him.

He scowled. "I'll excuse your ignorance this time, but you may want to wisen up a bit. Find out why it would be best to not piss me, the Malfoy heir, off. Now leave, and get out of my sight!" he demanded, pointing to the door.

Dahlia did so, delighted to have stirred him up, but before closing the compartment door, she added, "And _you_ may want to watch your mouth around my cousin. His mother was a muggleborn. Insulting what his mother was may just be a mistake you might not want to make." She made her way back to Harry without looking back for Draco's reaction.

Him and Ron had already changed into their robes, hers lay out for her, and she promptly slipped it over her head.

"Well, I met some charming people today." Dahlia giggled in delight. This was going to much more fun than she had originally thought it would.

* _/_ *

They were following a professor named McGonagall, she lead the first years into a chamber, cramming everyone together much too close for their liking. Dahlia wrinkled her nose as she got pressed between Harry and another boy she had never met before.

Professor McGonagall officially introduced herself and welcomed them to Hogwarts. She gave a brief explanation on the school and the houses, informing that they would be sorted soon.

She then looked disapprovingly at the crowd, eyes focusing on those who looked a mess. Dahlia had nothing to worry about; she had checked herself over after getting out of the magical row boat earlier. Her robes, hair braids and shoelaces were all in fine placement. She watched as Harry checked his hair; the styling gel still working its 'magic'.

Professor McGonagall left then, telling them to wait for her to retrieve them. There were lots of sounds coming from the other side of the wall. Many people were talking.

"Whoa!" a girl said, pointing. Everyone looked up to see a group of ghosts floating above their heads, arguing over someone called "Peeves". It took a moment for the ghosts to notice the lot of kids beneath them. A couple of them welcomed the group, and wished them good luck in their sorting.

Professor McGonagall came back and sent the ghosts off impatiently, eager to get on with the main event of the night. "Form a line and follow me," she instructed sternly, and lead them out of the room and across the way to the Great Hall.

The new students took in the sight with excitement, pointing out the candles that hovered above the tables, and the endless dark ceiling that twinkled with many tiny dots. A girl informed anyone who was listening that it was bewitched to match the current weather outside.

They stood between the teachers and students, the whole school was looking at them. If no one was nervous before, they were now.

A stool was placed in front and at the center of the line. Professor McGonagall placed a really ratty, dingy hat on top of the it. Dahlia looked at it with disgust.

Everyone in the Great Hall was staring at the hat, waiting for something to happen. It then twisted and moved as if stretching from a long nap. There was a rip that opened up, and it started singing a song.

They listened quietly, enjoying the entertainment provided to them by the enchanted hat. When it was finished, the Great Hall burst into applause.

"Wasn't that wicked?" someone near Dahlia exclaimed.

The hat bowed to each of the four tables that were presumed separate houses, before it froze back up again, as if it were inanimate.

"We have to let that thing touch our heads?" Dahlia asked. "It's... so... filthy."

"You'll live, Lia," Harry chuckled. "It's nothing you can't wash off."

"Fred said we'd have to wrestle a troll and everything!" Ron hissed. "I'll have to kill him. That bugger!"

Harry looked suddenly relieved. He had been worried it was going to be a lot more difficult than that, still wanting to be a Gryffindor really desperately, needing that connection with his parents.

"You'll do just fine, Harry," Dahlia assured, whispering.

But as each first year was called to the stool to place the hat onto their head, he got more and more nervous.

"Dursley, Dahlia."

Dahlia straightened up and took a deep breath. She sent one last encouraging grin to her cousin and climbed up onto the stool. She grimaced at the hat for a second, ignoring the hundreds of students in front of her. Quickly, without letting herself talk her out of it, she set the hat onto her head. Everything went black. Dahlia's heart was thumping nervously.

"Ah, here's a good one." A small voice said. "I feel you would fit well in Slytherin, but, sadly, that is not where your heart wishes to go."

Dahlia cleared her throat. "No," she rejected the offer firmly.

"You could make lots of friends there, with the mind that I see here."

"I am not looking to make friends." 

Dahlia felt the hat wiggle on her head. "Are you sure?" it spoke slowly. "You could be passing up on the opportunity of a life time here; all just for one person. You cannot change your mind after stepping off this stool. That seems like a huge thing to do for someone as young as yourself."

Dahlia stiffed, sucking in a deep breath. "I can handle it." She knew where she was supposed to go.

"Alright then, if that's what you choose..." There was a long moment of silence, as it waited for her to change her mind, but she didn't. The hat then shouted, "GRYFINNDOR!"

Dahlia jumped off of the bench and hurried to the cheering table, sitting down next to a girl named Fay Dunbar who had been sorted into Gryffindor just before her. She got many quick hellos before everyone's attention went back to the hat.

More and more students were sorted. Gryffindor gaining their first boy, named Seamus Finnigan, then, Hermione Granger (who had been helping Neville find his toad) and also Neville himself.

Draco Malfoy had been sorted into Slytherin quickly with little surprise to Dahlia. He obviously had been wanting that, since he wore a smug look once he took off the hat. He swaggered to his new House mates who were cheering like mad with their new addition. He seemed quite popular amoung the Slytherins.

When it came to Harry, the room erupted into loud whispers at the announcement of his name calling. Many hoped that he would be sorted into their houses. Dahlia watched Draco stare at him, wiggling his foot eagerly, waiting, no doubt, to see if Harry would become a Slytherin.

She grinned at the boy's fascination with her cousin. This was definitely a bonus and would make her plans with him a little simplier.

Dahlia watched with the rest of the school as the hat took a long time with Harry, longer than anyone before him. Harry's hands were gripping the stool tightly. She could tell he was making his case to the hat.

 _Come on... Gryffindor..._ she repeated over and over in her head. If Dahlia could make Gryffindor, so could he; he was much more Gryffindor than she.

And then it was announced.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10-**

Dahlia jumped up from the bench from where she was sitting at and ran to Harry, meeting him halfway. She flung herself at him, hugging him tightly.

"You did it!" she squealed above the roaring cheering that came from the Gryffindor. "I knew it!"

Her cousin pulled from her, slightly embarrassed. "He wanted to sort me into Slytherin." 

Dahlia laughed. "Ha, same here!"

"We got Harry! We got Harry!" The Weasley Twins were cheering.

Dahlia let Harry walk ahead to his awaiting fans who surrounded him in a warm immense welcome. The poor boy was not used to all that attention, but he would have to get used to it. He still wore the biggest smile.

When their house settled down, and the Sorting Hat was allowed to continue. Gryffindor had two more additions after Harry. Dean Thomas, and lastly, Ron (who Dahlia heard Harry wishing under his breath to be sorted as a Gryffindor like they had been). Ron looked just as happy as Harry had with his sorting. Harry clapped just as loud as Ron's brothers as he sat down next to Harry.

The Dumbledore man, who was the headmaster of Hogwarts, made a short welcome, ending it with four words that Dahlia was sure he had made up. She covered her mouth to keep from bursting out in laughter.

"Yes, he is a bit of a nut, but he's brilliant!" Ron's brother, Percy said as everyone clapped and cheered at the man.

The food plates filled then. Harry and Dahlia, along with many of the first years, gaped at the abundance of perfectly prepared food.

Harry seemed to be enjoying himself with the feast, eating a bit of everything (besides the flavoured humbugs).

Dahlia served herself some of the roasted chicken, roasted potatoes and carrots, adding a good amount of gravy over it all. She loved gravy. It wasn't all too healthy though, but she didn't care tonight because tonight was special. Besides that, she hadn't eaten lunch, and she was starving-- or so she felt like it.

Ron was eating two chicken drumsticks at the same time, alternating between the two. Dahlia quickly looked away, his food eating habits reminded her of Dudley's. While her brother was making adjustments to his life, he still ate like a starving pig.

Many students at the table shrieked as the Gryffindor House Ghost, Sir Nicholas showed the first years why he was nicknamed 'Nearly Headless Nick'.

Dessert came soon after. Dudley would be in seventh heaven here! Pies, custards, cakes, ice cream, pastries and so much more!

Dahlia decided on a bowl of ice cream. She had a terrible time in picking a flavour, as there were over twenty of them, but she finally settled on cherry.

The first year boys then went into discussion on how pure their blood was. Most everyone seemed to be half blood wizard. Muggleborns were rare. Purebloods were even rarer.

Dahlia couldn't help over hearing Hermione Granger talking to Percy non stop about the school's lessons. She knew a lot about what the school would teach the beginners. She appeared especially interested in Transfigurations which also had intrigued Dahlia, but it sounded really hard.

"Ouch!" Harry yelped.

Dahlia looked at her cousin who had his hand to his forehead, looking off toward the teacher's table. She followed his gaze but wasn't sure what he was looking at.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"N-Nothing." Harry answered quickly.

Dahlia frowned. Something was bothering him. She'll have to ask him later, in a moment of privacy. She watched Harry glance off and on toward the teachers table while he silently ate his dessert.

The food and plates finally disappeared, and that's when Dumbledore made some special announcements and warnings.

Harry laughed when he heard that the third floor was off limits unless you wanted to die a horrible death. Dahlia looked at him strangely.

"He's joking, right?"

"He didn't sound like it..." Dahlia said slowly.

"I do think he is serious." Percy eyed the headmaster with a frown.

"Time for our song!" Dumbledore aanounced. He sent out a ribbon from his wand that formed into the lyrics of a song. "Everyone pick your favorite tune!"

Dahlia couldn't help but to cringe at the racket the Headmaster called music. Everyone was singing to a different tune. She mouthed the words, pretending to sing. She didn't sing though. Ever.

She giggled at the twins who were the last to finished. They dramatically sung to a sad tune, with goofy looks on the faces as Dumbledore waved his wand in conduction to their words.

It was time to go up to their dorms now. The Gryffindors were escorted by Percy who lead them through a section of the Hogwarts' castle. It was a long tiring walk through many doorways, including those that were hidden. Dahlia found herself hoping that she wouldn't get lost here. She had a terrible sense in direction.

She bumped into Harry then, having been too busy trying the memorize her way back down to the Great Hall and not noticing that he had stopped along with the rest of the first years. "Sorry." she mumbled, distracted. Was that two left turns from the second floor stair landing? Or three?

Someone howled in pain next to her, bringing her from her thoughts. Neville was wimpering and rubbing his head. Dahlia heard a man cackling off behind her and a rattle of what sounded like metal.

"You'll have to watch out for him. He's a nuisance, only the Bloody Baron can control him. He doesn't even listen to us Prefects!" Percy said, resuming his tour and finally stopping at a portrait of a fat woman in a frilly dress who asked for a password.

 _Caput Draconis. Caput Draconis. Caput Draconis._ Dahlia said over and over in her head to memorize the password Percy had supplied. If she had her notepad with her, she would have written this down. Hopefully, she could remember it.

Dahlia followed her housemates into a large, round cozy room with lots of chairs. The Gryffindor Common Room. She bid goodnight to Harry as the boys and girls were then split up when Percy showed them to their separate staircases that lead to their dormitories.

A girl wearing a badge with a P on it like Percy had greeted the six first year girls after they had climbed up the flight of stairs to a landing. She had moist cherry red lips, brown eyes and black hair that was pulled back into a bun. "My name is Audrey. If you need any help at all, let me know. I'll show you to your dorms now." She walked to a door that had a sign with the words, 'FIRST YEARS DORM #1'. "Since we have an extra student this year, there are two rooms for the first years. We usually only have four or five to a dorm room." She then conjured a clipboard right there on the spot. After a moment, she read off four names, announcing the girls that were assigned to the first dorm room.

The girls disappeared into their dorm. Dahlia, along with Hermione Granger, followed Audrey to the dorm room next door it. 'FIRST YEARS DORM #2'

"This room is much smaller, but with only the two of you, that shouldn't matter much at all." Audrey opened the door, gesturing them inside. She then reminded the two girls where her own dorm was, although it was unnecessary since she had just told their peers just under a minute ago.

"Thanks," Dahlia said politely, following Hermione into the room that was just a bit bigger than hers at home.

A bed sat on each side of the room, with thick crimson red curtains. Dahlia's bed was on the left side, as her trunk was placed at the end of it.

"Well, it certainly is elegant enough," Hermione commented walking to her trunk and opening it up. "But that is to be expected. Everything in Hogwarts is gracefully stylish." She pulled out a night shirt. Dahlia quickly turned away suddenly,  learning that the girl was going to change her clothes right in front of her. "Aren't you going to get ready for bed also?" Hermione asked. "We best get to bed early. Our lessons start tomorrow; we should be well rested for them."

"Yeah," Dahlia agreed.

"I'm Hermione, by the way. Hermione Granger. In case you missed Professor McGonagall's calling my name."

"No. I remember your name," Dahlia told her. "I'm Dahlia Dursley."

"Well, I know that! I was paying attention to everything," she said proudly, with a snobbish tone.

Dahlia let the girl ramble on as she changed into her own sleeping clothing-- concealed safely inside her curtains which were pulled tightly together to keep from being watched. When she was through, Dahlia neatly folded her robes and other clothing, before setting it on the cupboard next to her bed.

"I was able to light my wand up pretty easily," Hermione was saying at a quick speed. "Lumos is a very simple spell. I am working on the lock and unlock spells now. I don't quite yet understood the Transfiguration spells thoroughly though, my match turns silver, but that is about it. Professor McGonagall should correct me on that soon enough-- What on Earth are you doing?!" the girl suddenly demanded, noticing that Dahlia had removed her shoes only to put a different pair on.

Dahlia settled herself into bed, pulling the quilt up to her neck in comfort, taking her time before she answered

"Aren't you going to take off your shoes?!" Hermione probed.

Dahlia smirked, amused by the girl's shock in seeing something so strange. "No..."

"Well, why not? You can't sleep with your shoes on!" Hermione scolded. "Your feet need to breathe fresh air, you know."

"I can't sleep unless I have shoes on," Dahlia explained simply, closing her eyes, hoping the girl would take the hint that she just wanted to go to sleep now.

"You can so! What is stopping you?"

"It is... just a thing I do. Surely you have a weird quirk of your own?"

The girl was actually silent for a moment; Dahlia hadn't thought it was possible. "I do not believe that I do."

"Congratulations on being a bit on the normal side then," Dahlia said dryly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11-**

Dahlia woke up slightly confused as to where she was the next morning before remembering that she was at Hogwarts. She got up to do her morning routine of making herself presentable to the world.

Hermione's bed sat empty. It surprise Dahlia none that the know-it-all would also be an early bird.

On Dahlia's seventy-seventh brush stroke to her hair, Hermione returned, dressed and ready for the day. She began pacing the floor, muttering spells to herself.

"What's the incantation that allows you to change the color of an object?" Hermione asked, speaking to Dahlia for the first time that morning.

"Uh... I... didn't think there was one?" There certainly hadn't been one in any of her books, she and Harry had been through all of theirs; front and back. Besides, she only had to tell something to turn a colour before it did.

"Well, of course there is!" Hermione rolled her eyes. She resumed to her muttering until Dahlia started another part of her daily routine that she hadn't been able to do for the last two months. Now that she was at Hogwarts, she could start it back up.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked curiously, as Dahlia sat three plastic disposable cups on the top of her trunk.

Dahlia lay on her stomach on her bed, with her head at the end of it, using her arms as a pillow. "Practicing magic." She answered. She then made the cups stack by themselves, and unstack.

Hermione gasped. "Where's your wand?"

"My wand?" Dahlia glanced at the cupboard where her wand was stored. She had forgotten about her wand. It was a habit she was developing since she hadn't needed one ever before.

"How do... you... do that?" The girl gaped at her.

"Can't you do it too?" Surely the smart girl could do something as simple as make lightweight cups move on their own.

Hermione shook her head. "Not without my wand."

"Have you ever even tried it?" Dahlia asked her bluntly.

"Well... no." Hermione said slowly giving Dahlia the impression that the thought had never occurred to her.

Dahlia gestured to the cups. "Try it then. Using your mind, make them do something."

Hermione got down onto her knees in front of the trunk so she was eye level with the cups. Dahlia watched her lips move, as she concentrated on trying to make the cups animate. Hermione sighed heavily several minutes later. The cups hadn't moved an inch for her.

"Well, you can try again later." Dahlia said gently, and put the cups away. "I have to meet my cousin now."

"Oh, so that was why you were hugging Harry Potter." Hermione said, snatching her book bag. "I didn't know that he had a cousin. Did you know that he defeated a very powerful wizard at only the age of one?"

Dahlia nodded politely. "Yes, I did."

Hermione followed her down the stairs to the common room, where they met Harry and Ron.

"Sleep well?" Dahlia asked Harry.

"Yep."

"The beds here are made from one hundred percent weedle cotton." Hermione informed. "It is supposedly the softest type of material known to man."

Dahlia saw Ron roll his eyes behind Hermione's back as she kept on about weedle cotton. They followed Hermione out of the common room, since she seemed to know exactly where to go.

The girl, who knew much more than anyone probably should, pointed out things to avoid, such as the locked door that led to a forbidden bathroom.

While Harry and Dahlia acknowledged her tips politely, Ron muttered his annoyance with her under his breath. He must have had a low tolerance for outspoken brainiacs. At least Ron didn't have to dorm up with her. He would go positively nutty then. While Dahlia wasn't completely annoyed with Hermione yet, if the talking encyclopedia kept on for much longer, Dahlia was sure someone would end up gagging her with a dirty sock.

The table was already dished with breakfast food and the four sat down at the it, Hermione talking non stop.

A movement from the corner of Dahlia's eye made her look to her left. She saw Draco stalking toward them with the boys that were built like Dudley trying to keep up with his quick strides. She hid a grin at Draco's complete focus on Harry. The boy was severely desperate for Harry's attention.

"Why, hello, Draco!" Dahlia greeted him cheerily before he could say anything at all. His cold eyes set upon her for a split second before returning back to Harry.

"You know this boy?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yeah. I met him on the train, Harry. He's a lovely boy, aren't you, Draco?"

Draco raised his eyebrows up at Dahlia, clearly in wonder what she was up to.

"Harry was just having breakfast with his new _friends_." Dahlia informed him. "Would _you_ like to join us?" She created a gap between herself and Harry for the boy.

Draco made a funny noise that sounded between a snort and a scoff.

"He doesn't want to sit next to you, Dahlia." Harry said, giving him a cold look. "He thinks you're beneath him."

"Now, you wouldn't want to start fighting!" Hermione hissed. "And get into trouble on the first day!"

"No, they wouldn't." Dahlia said sweetly. "Draco and I already had a talk about that, though, Harry. Haven't we, Draco?"

Draco lifted his chin and took a stiff breath, before forcing a convincing smile. "Yes, Miss. Dursley, we certainly have." in a swift movement, he sat at the place Dahlia had made for him. To Harry, he said, "Your cousin is a lovely... witch." he said the last word with a sort of high pitch to his voice, like he had to choke it out. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Potter." He held out his hand to Harry to shake. "I have heard many great things about you."

Harry's eyes shifted back and forth from Draco to Dahlia a few times before finally taking Draco's hand. "Call me Harry." He said to Draco, but his eyes were on Dahlia the whole time they shook hands. He knew something was up.

"These are my friends," Draco gestured to the two boys. "Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle."

"Come sit down then, boys, there's room for us all." Dahlia patted the bench on her right side that was empty.

Vincent and Gregory looked at Draco for the permission. Draco smiled cunningly. "Well, you heard her, sit down."

Ron's mouth hung open at the three additions to their table and since the threat of a possible fight was gone, Hermione started rambling about which lessons the Gryffindors would be taught that day.

To tune her out, Draco asked Harry if he had ever played Quiddich before. Obviously, he hadn't, which allowed Ron and Draco to fill Harry in all the exciting things about the Wizard sport. Vincent and Gregory appeared to have no interest in the sport. They were talking in low voices about spells they had been trying.

"I sure miss ice." Vincent grumbled. "I can't figure out how to make it." He sighed, taking out his wand and pointing it at his goblet of milk. "Fresen." The milk began boiling over the edges, and together the boys began mopping the mess up with napkins.

"At least you can make something boil." Gregory told him after they were through. "I can't even make lumos work."

"That's because neither of you are doing it right." Hermione announced across from them. She had scooted down to them, once she had realized the other three boys weren't going to pay any attention to her.

Vincent and Gregory glared at her. "We weren't talking to you." Vincent snarled.

"Keep practicing." Dahlia told the boys, getting up from the table. "You'll get it." She tapped Vincent's shoulder softly and went around the table to Hermione. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

Hermione took out her wand from the arm of her robes. "After I show them the proper away in doing it." She said, with a wave of her wand.

Dahlia grabbed at Hermione's forearm. "It's important, trust me. I got something to teach you that you may want to learn."

Hermione's eyes went to Dahlia as the thought of learning something new twirled around inside her head. She nodded and got up from the table. "Alright, where are we going?" She asked.

"Just out there for a moment." Dahlia pointed to the doors of the Great Hall. She glanced back at Harry who appeared happy enough, absorbed in the Quiddich conversation. Ron, Draco, and him getting along well enough for Dahlia to slip away with Hermione.

"Now listen to me, Hermione." Dahlia said urgently, when they were out in the corridor. "I've been surrounded by boys all my life. I don't know how your homelife was before Hogwarts, and I don't care to know. What I do know is boys. And something they do not like is when people- girls especially- tell them that they are wrong, or doing something wrong. Understand what I am saying?"

"Yes, but I was only trying to help." She insisted.

"You can easily help them without crushing their ego. Do you want to make any friends at all?" She asked Hermione harshly.

The girl looked down at the floor, tilting her head a little. "I- never... had any..."

"But you want some, right?" Dahlia pressed.

Hermione bit her lip and nodded.

"I can help you with that." Dahlia offered.

"You will?" Hermione asked with surprise.

"Sure. First thing... if you're going to correct someone, don't start off with 'You're doing it all wrong!' It just makes everyone loathe you. Really, it does... Gets completely under your skin, and all you want to do is strangle the person to death."

"Then how should I do it?"

Dahlia thought a moment. "How about... 'That's real good, would you like to learn how to make it even better? With a little practice, I bet you can be a complete master at it.' Something like that usually works."

"Alright..."

"Go give it a try then." Dahlia gestured Hermione back into the Great Hall. "And tone your spells down some; boost their up ego a little, they obviously need it." Dahlia stood by the entrance, as Hermione quickly made her way back to the untalented boys who were still trying to cast the simplest of spells.

Hermione successfully got their attention with whatever compliment she gave them and she showed them, through a complete list of instructions, how to cast the spells that they had been wanting to perform. By the time breakfast was through, Vincent had the icy milk he had craved, and Gregory could cast a Lumos as bright as Hermione's toned down spell.

Dahlia smiled. Everything was falling into place just perfectly.

* _/_ *

"Did you just see what happened?" Filius about gasped out as the Malfoy boy sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"It's... unheard of..." Minerva whispered in complete shock. "What do you think his father would do if he knew?" She asked Severus, whose eyes didn't leave the scene.

"If the boy wasn't his sole heir? Denounce him from the Malfoy name."

"Miss Dursley and Mr. Potter seem to have quite a close relationship." Albus noted.

"They are just adorable together, aren't they?!" Pomona asked with a quiet squeal. "You would almost think they were siblings."

"Tey look so much like tem!" Hagrid blubbered, thinking about Lily and James Potter.

They watched as Miss Dursley rised from the table, said something to Mr. Crabbe, and approached Miss Granger. The two girls exchanged words before Miss Dursley glanced at Mr. Potter, and lead Miss Granger out of the Hall.

"How curious." Albus said simply, gaining a few looks from some of the teachers. He didn't elaborate his fascination to them. Even after Minerva inquired about it.

Miss Granger returned back to the table shortly and showed the Slytherin boys how to cast the spells they had been struggling with. Miss Dursley stood at the entrance to the Great Hall, watching the group of first years intently for the rest of the breakfast.

"She's still standing there." Pomona said, several minutes later.

"Indeed she is." Filius said after a looking at the doors.

"Is she... jealous?" Minerva asked, as Miss Dursley continued to watch the table with a blank look on her face.

"I do not believe so." Albus' eyes twinkled when the girl had smiled after the breakfast plates had finally disappeared, ending the meal.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**  
Dahlia waited for Harry at the doors, who excused himself from the group that had formed around him. He made his way to her.

"Alright, what's going on?!" He instantly asked in a whisper. "What have you planned this time?"

Dahlia shrugged.

"No, Lia, tell me why you want Draco and I to be friends. What's the deal?"

Dahlia glanced around at the surrounding people. "Draco is a popular boy." She whispered.

"And he's also a jerk."

"I think that is just a front."

Harry gave her a doubtful look.

"Harry, don't you trust me?" She asked sincerely. "You are new to this world, you have so much to learn, and I think that Draco Malfoy could help you with that."

"But, Lia, he's prejudiced."

"And, with your help, that can be corrected." She said firmly.

"I don't think so."

"Well, I do." She insisted. "Besides, he wants to be friends with you."

Harry frowned. "Why...?"

Dahlia sighed. "Harry, look at how the people act around you. Can you imagine growing up hearing one child's name everyday? One powerful child's name? He's obviously curious."

"So he likes me just for my fame."

Dahlia sent him a look. "Which is no different than any other student here. You think the Gryffindor house cheered the loudest at your sorting for your glasses?"

Harry sighed deeply. "So I am doomed from making any real friends?"

"No." She put a hand to his shoulder. "You got me, for starters, who has always looked out for you. And in time, you will learn which friends are your real ones, but right now, you have a lot to catch up to, Mr. Boy Who Lived. If you listen enough, people will spread around knowledge. Knowledge is power. Today we have already learned that Weedle Cotton is the softest material."

She earned a soft chuckle from Harry on that.

Dahlia waited for a group of staring students to slowly pass before continuing. "And, with Draco, you're with him or against him. I am not quite ready to deal with a group of bullies at the moment; the whole Slytherin house would be against us. That's not a battle I'd be interested in fighting. Knowing them, they wouldn't play fair, and you are not as skilled as them yet."

"Fine..." he agreed bitterly.

Dahlia giggled. "Now, Harry, don't pretend you didn't like that Quiddich conversation."

Harry smiled widely. "It sounds so wicked, Lia. I can not wait to try it!"

* _/_ *  
"I wish they would stop staring at me." Harry grumbled to Dahlia on the way to their first class. Just about everyone they passed could not keep their eyes off him.

"It'll wear off.' She assured him. "You're a new thing right now. If you got to meet Thomas Croudur, wouldn't you stare at him too?" Thomas Croudur was Harry's favorite tv show star.

Harry shrugged to her truth.

"But if you saw him everyday, it would seem like nothing, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Same goes for you. I am sure of it." Dahlia said, walking into the Transfiguration classroom.

As Dahlia had thought, Transfigurations ended up being extremely difficult. After Professor McGonagall had showed off her skills by transfiguring her desk into a pig and back again, gaining the first years' attention, she made them write down a list of rules. It could be a very dangerous skill if not properly done right, and she made sure her pupils knew it.

When they had gone over the rules, the professor went around passing out matches. As Hermione had claimed the night before, they were to transfigure this into a needle.

Professor McGonagall demonstrated this, and by the end of the class, Hermione actually had silvery pointed match, earning a proud smile from the teacher.

"See Miss Granger's match everyone?" Professor McGonagall held up Hermione's match for them to admire. Ron grunted quietly at this, but Dahlia, who was sitting next to Hermione, congratulated her on her near success. Hermione beamed from the recognition of her hard work.

The students weren't the only ones excited about Harry. The tiny charms professor, Professor Flitwick, fell off his stack of books that he had to stand on, when he first squeaked out Harry's name for roll call. The class of first years giggled at that.

There, they practiced lighting up their wands with the Lumos spell. Nearly every student was capable of this spell.

History of Magic was the most boring one of all. The only thing remotely exciting was that the teacher was a ghost. Unfortunately, he was also the most dullest ghost ever heard of. He droned on forever in a voice that could put anyone to sleep. And it did. Dahlia had a feeling that this was going to be a class where a lot of students would catch winks of sleep in.

She yawned, and made an effort to tune Professor Binn's mono toned voice from her head. She read through her notes and textbook, double checking that she had them right.

Hermione sat alert, watching the teacher as he spoke, and somehow, at the same time, her hand was moving as she wrote down everything the man said.

This girl was hardcore.

Herbology was better. The plants that moved and also sensed your own movement were interesting. Just like the other classes though, they were hardly taught much the first day. All it was was a simple introductory lesson on what they were going to learn during their first year at Hogwarts.

"Oi." Draco approached Harry Friday morning. "We have two classes together today." He wedged himself between Dahlia and Harry. "I can't wait for the Defense, I don't think it's going to be any good though. Dumbledore is really useless at finding a decent Defense teacher."

Dahlia kicked Draco in the shin who yelped out.

"Something wrong?" She asked him innocently when he gave her a look.

"Nothing at all, Miss Dursley." He grit his teeth. "Your braids are a bit crooked today, did you know?"

Dahlia forced a grin, telling herself not to check her hair, knowing the boy was messing with her, but she could not help herself. "I'll be right back." She told the group, hurrying off to the bathroom.

Just as she figured, her braids were perfect as always. She narrowed her eyes at her reflection in the mirror. So he wants to play games with her. She'll play them right back.

"I got a letter." Harry informed Dahlia when she returned. Much to her dismay, Draco had disappeared.

"From who?"

"Hagrid. He wants to meet me for tea." He smiled.

"That's nice. How was the delivery? What was it like to get an owl from Hedwig?" She asked eagerly.

Harry grinned. "It was great. Made me feel like a real wizard."

When Defense Against the Dark Arts came around, Dahlia found herself partially agreeing with Draco on his statement about the Defense teacher. Professor Quirrell was, indeed, absolutely useless. His classroom rank of garlic, and because of that, there were rumors stating that he was hiding from a vampire. Dahlia found that silly, but the story made for a good laugh.

The professor was a teller of white lies, as he claimed to kill a zombie but wouldn't explain how, and he would immediately change the subject when someone asked how he killed it.

"He's a loony." Draco rolled his eyes after Defense was through. Vincent and Gregory agreed quickly. "This year's lessons will be complete rubbish!" He said in disgust. "I bet the kids at Durmstrang are learning all sorts of things. Mother wouldn't let me go there though." He suddenly looked dejected.

"I already know some of the defense subjects." Hermione said proudly.

"You should teach us them." Dahlia suggested gently. "I bet we all would love to know some new spells, huh, boys?"

Harry and Ron nodded eagerly at the suggestion. The Slytherins wisely remained silent, not wanting to make a scene over a muggleborn tutoring them.

"I can try." Hermione said after a thought. "How about tomorrow after lunch?"

"Sounds fine." Draco finally agreed. "I'll see if I can bring someone by to assist you."

Dahlia couldn't help but to wonder to herself why Draco would even bother coming if he already had someone to show him how to cast Defense spells.

"Potions is next." Ron announced.

"Wait." Draco called out gently, making everyone stop to look at him. "You Gryffies are going to struggle in this class." He informed them bluntly. "It won't surprise you that Snape favours my house, but I have also heard that he really loathes the Gryffindors. Best to keep your head low." He then smirked. "Unless you want to just hand us the House Cup- in which we have won for the past six years."

"You wish!" Harry tossed back at him. "We'll win it this year."

"Yeah." Draco drawled playfully, leading the way into their Potions class. "Sure you will."

Draco and Harry continued arguing with each other on who would win the House cup. Ron, Vincent, and Gregory joined in on the playful insults they tossed at each other.

"We have more good looking blokes in our house." Ron said.

Draco smirked. "Yes, but it takes ten of you to make up for one of us. Quality over quantity, Weasley."

Harry and Draco subconsciously sat themselves together during their teasing. Dahlia sat next to Neville who was in hysterics.

"What's wrong, Nev?" She asked, he was elbows deep in his cauldron.

"T-Trever!" He whimpered. "My toad is stuck!"

Hermione sat down on the other side of Neville, and busied herself with Neville. "How did you even manage to get him in there?" She whispered to him gently. She stuck her wand in the cauldron and stirred it. The toad made a loud croak and flew out into Neville's arms.

"Thank you!" He breathed with relief, smiling at her.

"Now keep him still!" She scolded. "The professor should be here any minute!"

"Ew, God, is that a foot?!" Dahlia cringed, pointing at a jar on a shelf stocked with potion ingredients.

Draco, who was separated from her by Ron, snickered. "Merlin, you are such a girl, Dursley! I was looking forward to this class, but suddenly, that feeling has multiplied by one thousand." He wore a smug look.

"Hush up." Dahlia muttered.

"It's the foot of a goblin." He informed her with delight. "And I'd wager that Snape severed it off himself." He paused, a wicked grin forming on his face."While it was still alive."

Dahlia's eyes widened in horror at the thought. "You're joking!" She shrieked.

Draco shrugged, not answering her either way.

"That's horrid!"

"Quiet down now." A cold voice ordered then. Professor Snape swept up to the front of the room. "During the duration of the year, any conversion that has nothing to do with this subject shall end as soon as the lesson starts. Failure to do so shall grant you a detention." His eyes scanned the class, as if expecting an argument from someone, but not a soul did.

"When I call your name, you shall only rise your hand." He said lazily, as he wandlessly conjured a piece of parchment that no doubt listed their names.

When it was time for Dahlia to raise her hand, she couldn't help noticing that the professor looked at her longer than the previous student called. She sent him a smile. Professor Snape moved on to the next name after a clearing of his throat.

"Ah, yes, Harry Potter..." His voice hardly above a whisper. He then stared at Harry for several seconds. You could probably hear a pin drop with as quiet as the room was at that moment.

"Are you alright, Professor?" Draco asked.

Professor Snape looked at Draco for a second before returning to his roll call, as if nothing had been interrupted.

Like the other teachers, he gave his own introductory speech, only, he said nothing encouraging as the others had. Dahlia knew at that precise moment that he truly hated his job one hundred percent.

So why was he here then? He appeared brilliant enough. Surely he could do something that he'd rather enjoy? In his odd speech to them, Professor Snape gave the impression that he enjoyed brewing potions. So... why wasn't he doing a career with brewing that he would like?

"Potter!" He said suddenly, making half the class jump. "What would I get if I added asphodel root powder to an infusion of wormwood?"

Dahlia glanced at Harry who looked to be thinking of the answer. Hermione raised her hand eagerly. Dahlia instantly followed.

Professor Snape ignored their hands. He only wanted Harry to answer the question. Dahlia lowered her hand, studying the shadow of a man who still awaited for Harry's answer.

"I can't remember, sir." Harry finally answered.

Dahlia sighed. Her and Harry had studied the books thoroughly, he wasn't able to remember text as quick as she, but she had been hoping he would remember.

Professor Snape sneered and gave out a tut. "Clearly fame isn't everything, Potter." He then pointed to Dahlia with a finger. "Do you really know? Or were you just attempting to distract me?" He asked coolly.

"Um..." she glanced at Harry before answering the teacher, "Yes, sir. I know the answer." Earning herself a quirk of his eyebrow.

Draco scoffed. "As if!"

"Quiet." The professor drawled. To Dahlia, he said, "Enlighten your cousin, then, Miss Dursley."

Harry and Dahlia's eyes met. "You already know. Remember, it's a sleeping potion..." she hinted to him.

"Oh!" Harry said, remembering then. "Drought of the Living Death, now I remember!" His grin faded when he met the Professor's cold eyes.

"A point taken from Gryffindor. Potter, you will not speak out of turn again."

"Yes, sir." Harry mumbled.

"Told you so." Draco whispered to Harry when Professor Snape had turned away.

Professor Snape pointed his wand at a blackboard and a recipe appeared on it. He scanned his eyes around the room. "I am not going to waste my time with pairing you up today. You shall partner with the person on your left, starting from the east side of the room."

Dahlia got Ron as a partner.

"One partner will do the brewing, the other, the preparation of the ingredients. Assist each other if necessary. You will begin now."

"I'll prepare the ingredients." Dahlia automatically said. Ron shrugged. "Brewing is going to be more fun anyway. I get to use my wand." He held it proudly.

Dahlia had already been through a couple of her Grandmother's books. It appeared that Grandmother recorded pretty much every potion involving anything to do with reptiles and even some amphibians, and Dahlia wanted to try a trick that she had read about snake fangs.

"Do me a favour." Dahlia whispered to Ron, when she noticed he had gotten the fire to start.

"What?"

"Could you... get the horned slugs out of the jar for me?" She wrinkled her nose, setting the jar on the desk. She was sure if she felt their nasty bodies that she would throw up there right on the spot!

"Sure."

According to her Grandmother's notes, each curing potion had to have a powder of some sort, a liquid, two animal parts -one of them belonging to a mammal-, and a plant. The recipe on display was lacking the liquid. Dahlia eyed the jar of horned slugs. They seemed slimy enough. They sat in a disgusting substance; did that serve as the needed liquid?

Grandmother noted that when dealing with snake fangs, an extra drop of whatever liquid you were using would make the potion twenty percent more effective.

When it was time to add the horned slugs, Dahlia took a dropper and added a drop of horned slug juice to the brew. Ron protested quietly, claiming he was the brewer.

"No!" Hermione hissed, followed by a smacking sound. "Take the cauldron off the fire first!"

"Oh... right..." Neville said shakily.

"My, my, Mr. Malfoy, excellent work on the horned slug stewing." Professor Snape spoke up. "See what paying attention gets you?" He asked the class smugly. "A point to Slytherin."

Draco flashed Dahlia a complacent grin when he caught her looking at his brew. It did look appropriately made, she'd admit that. She smiled back at him, a true smile though. She wasn't jealous of him. If he was better, he was better. It's not like this was going to be her best subject.

"It's done." Ron announced to her after waving his wand.

"It looks..." she tilted her head. It looked just as what Grandmother had wrote that it would. Smooth and dark blue, with many light blue specks that made it all glittery.

_Now she only had to wait..._

"What did you do wrong?" Hermione asked, looking at Ron and Dahlia's brew.

"What do you mean?" Ron demanded indignantly. "It's perfect!"

"It's supposed to be a solid blue." She gestured to her own brew. "Not all-"

"What on Earth?" Professor Snape towered behind Ron and Dahlia, leaning over between the two, peering into Ron's cauldron.

"Get me a ladle!" He barked to Ron who hastily went digging for one from his bag and then held it out to him. Professor Snape snatched it from Ron and swirled it through the brew. "Hmm..." he mused after the inspection. "Which one of you diverted from the recipe?" His cold black eyes flickered between the two of them.

"Did I do something wrong?" Dahlia asked. She had wanted him to notice the brew, but she now had a gut feeling that this wasn't how it was supposed to go. What did she foul up? Was her Grandmother's tip faulty? Was that why her books weren't popular? But Dad said Grandmother was brilliant. Unless, of course he was just saying so, with her being his mother and all.

Again, the professor eyed Dahlia far longer than he should had before stepping away. "Stay after class, Dursley." He said before moving onto Hermione and Neville's brew.

Ron shuddered. "I wouldn't want to be you right now!" He whispered.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13-**

 

When the lesson was over, Harry stepped up to Dahlia. "I was going to meet Hagrid for tea, but I'll cancel and wait for you instead..." he glanced at Professor Snape with narrow eyes.

"It's okay, Harry." She told him gently. "You go meet Hagrid."

"I'm surprised he's not holding Weasley back also." Draco said, grabbing his bag. "With him being your partner and all."

"I did everything I was supposed to!" Ron defended himself.

"Unless you boys wish to stay; I suggest that you leave now." Professor Snape ordered darkly from at the front of the room. He stood stiff behind his desk, his hands to his side.

"I'm out!" Draco said quickly, making his exit, Ron following him.

"Go." She told Harry, who lingered behind with uncertainty. She gave him a reassuring smile. "He's not going to kill me or anything."

"That's not something to joke about, Lia!" Harry told her in a whisper.

Dahlia rolled her eyes. "Okay... sorry. Go on and have your afternoon tea." She began pushing him out. "I'll be fine."

Harry looked doubtful, but door's closing blocked Dahlia from having to see his worried face any longer.

Dahlia heard a click then. The door had been locked. She turned around in question to see Professor Snape looking down at her. It was strange how good he was at hiding his emotions from his face. Professor Snape was the first person Dahlia had ever met where she had trouble reading.

She smiled sweetly, unsure of what else to do. He didn't frighten her, but since she couldn't tell what he was up to, she was at a lost on how she could manipulate him and weasel her way out of this. "Professor, don't think that I can't unlock this door."

He turned from her, stalking quickly to a cupboard. "It's not to keep you in. I locked it to keep anyone out."

Dahlia was curious now. She tried the knob, twisting it, and indeed, he was correct, the door opened just fine from the inside. Watching the professor rummage through a drawer of the cabinet, she shut the door back up.

"Might I ask why you don't wish for an interruption?"

"I am deducting five points from Gryffindor for your failure on following directions." He finally found what he was looking for- a book, and stood up.

"It will never happen again, sir." She said, having difficulties in hiding a grin. His oily hair had adjusted, blocking her sight from him. He hastily brushed it back with a hand and swept wordlessly to Dahlia and Ron's potion.

"Tell me exactly what you did." He ordered without looking up at her. He had the book open, sliding his finger down the page until he found the spot on the page that he sought. Professor Snape took out an empty vial and then ladled some of brew into it.

"Um..." He was collecting her brew. So, she must not had messed it up. Dahlia successfully hid a smile. Good, this was going to be easier than she had thought it was going to be.

"Would you like me to deduct five hundred points instead?" He drawled lazily.

He was willing to waste his whole daily Gryffindor point deductions on her. They had been right when they said he would act this way. He desperately wanted to know what she had done. And she couldn't blame him.

Knowledge is power.

"I can't really tell you that, sir." She said quietly.

His cold dark eyes shifted to her. "And just why not?"

She lifted her shoulder in a shrug. "It's a secret. No one must know- not yet, anyway."

"Yet?" He seethed.

"Yet." She repeated firmly. She then smiled. "But, Professor, when I do go to share it, you will be the first and only to know."

"If that is the case, why must it wait?" He asked.

"Because now is not the perfect time." Dahlia insisted gently. "There's a perfect moment for everything, and I will know when that is."

She watched his jaw clench. "You will tell me now, or I will assign you a month of detentions!"

There it is.

"How about this..." she stepped up to him slowly. "I'll tell you what I did, and in return, you tell me why it's so intriguing to you. But-" she raised a finger up sternly. "I want every detail, not some lazy explanation that you would give just any ordinary person, because, sir, you shall learn very shortly that I am far from normal."

He raised an eyebrow, giving Dahlia just a moment's clue that he was somewhat interested with her bargain.

"I do have more tips." She added quickly to persuade his decision. "If you would also like some more introductions to sudden brew improvements." She was going on a limb here, assuming her Grandmother may have been more brilliant than lucky, but she didn't care. This man was going to help her, and, in return, she would help him. "I promise that your return will be greater than mine- in the end."

"A promise from an eleven year old girl, how meaningful."

"Words are not made by the age of a man, but by the mind of him."

Professor Snape put all of Dahlia's brew into vials, making a case of them. He held up one to the light of his dim Potions dungeon, studying it. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine." He said finally. "A deal we have."

Dahlia smiled. "Yay!" She cheered happily.

The professor rolled his eyes. "Yay..." he said in bored sarcasm. "So what did you do?"

* _/_ *

"Only five points?" Fred whistled in surprise.

"That's a shock." his twin added.

"We can't end a lesson without ten each." They said together.

"I didn't get any deductions." Ron bragged with a smile.

"That's because you're too dull. Snape hates attractive, active, young men."

"He's the complete opposite."

"He's jealous, you know." Fred winked.

Harry laughed.

"How did your tea go?" Dahlia asked Harry to change the subject.

"Nice." Harry said thoughtfully. "He's an awful cook though. Hagrid also hates Mrs. Norris."

Mrs. Norris was the most hated cat Dahlia had ever heard of. With valid reasoning though. Dahlia would be surprised that Filch and the cat couldn't communicate with each other. If it were possible, Filch hated his job more than Professor Snape did, and he made sure the students knew about it too. He would often spat out threats for no reason other than to scare them. Dahlia was sure he wouldn't be here if any of his threats were full. Still, they all made an effort to stay away from him, not willing to get on his foul side.

Harry then went on about an article in the Daily Prophet about a thief that failed in stealing something from a vault at Gringotts Bank.

"I don't know why you're worried about it, Harry." Dahlia said. "People try stealing all the time. Some people are bad, you know that."

"But I am sure what they were trying to steal was the package that Hagrid got."

"And they didn't get it." She told him. "So why concern yourself with it at all? It's not even your item anyway. It's not yours to worry about."

But Dahlia could tell that this was one thing that Harry wasn't about to listen to her on.

The next day, Harry, Ron, Dahlia, and Hermione were in a room located in the dungeons waiting for Draco to arrive.

"I think he's playing us." Hermione said, pacing. She was biting her nails in excessive worry. "Why would he want to be nice to us at all? He called me mudblood once, did you know? I didn't know what it meant at the time, but I've learned since then. He doesn't like muggleborns."

"Yeah, my dad says Draco's father is bad news." Ron added.

"Well, even if that truly is the case, Draco is a separate person from his father.I don't act like either of my parents." Said Dahlia with a huff. "So I shall not base an opinion of a person by just the name of their family." She stood up straighter. "We shall give people the benefit of the doubt."

"But his family was dark." Ron insisted.

"Draco's fine." Dahlia assured. "He's just all bark. It's what happens when you're a single, rich child that's been overly spoiled." Her housemates gave her doubtful looks, making her shrug. "It's in all the fiction books, at least."

"Fiction being the key word here." Harry pointed out. "Sometimes... you're just too... Gandhi, Lia. You can't talk your way out of every battle."

"But I can sure as hell try. And if Dudley can change, anyone can."

Harry nodded. "Alright, you've made your case."

Dahlia sighed in relief. She hoped Harry would give Draco enough time.

The door to the dungeons creaked open then and four bodies stepped into the room. Draco walked to the group with Vincent, Gregory, and a tall grey haired girl behind him.

The girl stared at Harry Potter before saying, "Nice to meet you, Harry Potter. It is an honour to attend the same school as you."

"Thanks."

"This is Judia Carrow." Draco gestured to the girl. "Everyone calls her Jude."

Jude nodded once in confirmation to his claim.

"She's a fifth year." Draco explained. "And already knows loads of magic. Especially defense."

"And offense." Jude added bitterly.

"Why is your hair grey?" Ron asked.

Jude stiffened and scowled down at him. "If you wish for me to even begin teaching you the fine arts of defending yourself, you shall never ask me that again!" Dahlia quietly sucked in a breath when she saw the girl's brown eyes flare up into a bright red color.

That was not normal.

"Y-es, m-miss." Ron squeaked.

"Jude's a bit sensitive, but she's brilliant." Draco told them.

"I am only here for the Galleon you promised me, Malfoy." Jude said with an annoyed tone. "I need to begin soon, as I do have OWLs to study for still."

Draco chuckled. "So Ravenclaw of you. Not even a week in and you're already stressing over tests." He reached into the front of his robes and pulled out a shiny gold coin. "There. Begin now, would you?"

Jude nodded and actually smiled, showing that she had many teeth missing.

Dahlia caught Harry elbowing Ron in the gut who was no doubt going to ask why she hardly had any teeth.

"We'll start with hags, and then move on to trolls. Which of you will be my assistant?" Jude asked Dahlia and Hermione.

"That would be I." Hermione raised her hand eagerly.

"No need to do that." Jude said with dismissal. "I am no real teacher. Tell me what you know about hags, and I'll see if you're capable enough to help."

And so Hermione went into a lengthy explanation on the very first known hag, who created a society of nasty women that possessed a weaker kind of magic; similar to what trolls had.

"Because they are so weak, you can easily control them." Jude took over. "They are very cunning though. Their words can be more powerful than most spells of entrapment. If you ever meet one, the best thing to do is silence them from speaking. Immediately."

"That's the spell that Professor Snape had cast on your parents." Harry reminded Dahlia when Jude demonstrated a spell on Hermione.

"I kind of like her that way." Draco said with a smirk, getting a dirty look from a swelling Hermione.

"The spell wears off over time. You first years wont be able to do it on a human just yet, so I suggest practicing with a cricket, or something of the like."

Jude then showed them a few simpler spells to use and practice on each other. "And if this ever gets out that I am helping you, I promise you now that you will regret it!" She snapped and tapped her wand to her grey hair causing it to catch on fire with a hot blaze.

"Whoa!" A chorus of voices followed.

"Do not upset me." Jude warned them coldly, and without a goodbye, she exited the room.

"Blimey! She's something, isn't she?" Ron's voice was stuck in a fearful whisper.

"I've known her all my life." Draco said distantly, avoiding anyone's eyes. "She'll be your best friend- if you don't piss her off. She doesn't forgive either."

"She sounds dangerous." Hermione spoke up, her silence spell had been lifted.

"She is." Draco said with a deep breath. "Very. So take heed on her warning, because you will not get another."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14-**

Dahlia massaged her temples. Hermione was about to send the surrounding students off the deep end with her constant tips on how to fly.

Flying lessons would happen that day. It had been a week since they started school, and already Dahlia was wishing she could silence Hermione with the spell Jude had shown them. Unfortunately, Dahlia had found out that she couldn't cast the charm as well as the others, who already had proven themselves as fast learners, successfully silencing toads- Neville's toad to be exact.

Dahlia couldn't even silence a cricket. Even after Hermione had bluntly informed her that she was doing everything correctly.

"You're really showing me your skills." Draco had whispered into her ear the other day upon noticing her struggling. "Didn't you make a claim to being a real witch last week?"

She forced a grin. If only he knew the truth. He'd be stunned for life, and not from the effects of a spell. "How little you know about me, Draco." She had whispered back.

"You won't make it past Fifth year." He had taunted.

"Watch me."

Now on Thursday, Dahlia had to silently thank the owls for delivering the post, since it interrupted Hermione's rambling on how to fly.

Draco received yet another package from home. His loving parents sent him sweets just about everyday, and he gloated about it. Occasionally, if he was feeling generous, he would share with Ron and Harry.

"Lia!" Harry gasped excitedly. "A letter from Dudley!" He passed her the letter so she could read it.

_Dear Lia and Harry,_

_I hope you don't mind that I sent off one letter to the both of you. I am very busy here. They give us loads of homework to do!_

_Your opening feast sounded terrific and just as good as the one here was. I especially loved the carrot cake. It even had raisins!_

_They already started me on a training diet. The coach, Mr. Whiles, said that I should be ready for the rugby team in a year if I put in a lot of work. I told him that I plan on working real hard. The health food is not as bad as I thought it would be. It seems they have as good as a cook as you, Dahlia! The only complaint I'll make about it is that there doesn't seem to be enough of it. They won't let me eat my fill._

_When I received your letter, Harry, the kids here were impressed to see a trained owl. I let them believe that Hedwig was special. They are excited to see her again, so write back soon!_

_\- Dudley_   
_PS: Congrats on making the Warrior house, both of you! I am giving you a salute in your honour, ha!_

"Nice to hear he's doing okay." Harry commented after Dahlia was finished with reading the letter.

Draco snorted. "Warrior house, good one."

"Imagine Dudley skinny..." Dahlia said in thought, ignoring Draco. "Hard to believe."

"Yep." Harry laughed.

"Whoa!"

Everyone turned to look at Neville grasping onto a round ball with red smoke that was trapped inside of it.

"It's a rememberball!" Draco snatched it from Neville, eyeing it closely.

"Hey!" Neville shrieked.

"Give it back, Draco!" Harry demanded, standing up.

"Alright alright." Draco shrugged, giving it a gentle toss to Neville. "I was only looking."

"And next time you should ask." Dahlia told Draco. "I am sure Nev would be glad to let you look at it."

Neville nodded slowly.

"Yeah..." Draco drawled in doubt. "Sure he would." He stood from the table then and gestured Vincent and Gregory to follow him to the Slytherin table.

"He's so rude!" Hermione said, sending him a look.

"He's... still learning how to be polite." Dahlia defended him, frowning at the blond who was stalking to his house's table. "I bet he's never had to share with anyone before." Dahlia knew a certain room mate of hers who was also a single child that had some rude moments too. But Dahlia kept that to herself.

* _/_ *

"These really are the worst brooms I have ever seen." Draco complained, crossing his arms in disgust, scowling at the twenty-one brooms laying on the grass. His fellow house mates agreed with him, most having had bragged to have had a broom by their third birthday. Draco claimed the one he thought was best, wrinkling his nose up at it. He then pointed to another. "Harry, you ought to have that one. It's the next best."

"How generous of you, Draco." Harry joked, stepping up to it.

"Well, mine's not much better." Draco pointed out to him.

The teacher arrived then. She told the remaining students to stand by a broom and call it up.

Harry's and Draco's instantly went into their hands. Hermione's and Neville's stayed at the ground.

"Ah!" Dahlia shrieked shielding her face with her hands to keep from getting smacked with the handle that flew up to her.

"How graceful, Miss Dursley." Draco chuckled. A few others laughed.

Dahlia stuck her tongue out at him.

Neville suddenly started flying straight up into the air, whimpering. "He-Help!"

"Mr. Longbottom, get back down here!"

Neville appeared to not know how to steer his broom.

"He's going to fall!" Ron said.

"Nev!" Dahlia screamed as they watched the boy get thrown from the broom and crash into the ground. The students crowded around the whimpering boy.

"Out of my way, now, come on!" Madam Hootch pushed through them impatiently. "Oh, dear me, broken wrist. Hush now, you'll be alright." She said with sudden softness to her voice, helping Neville to his feet. She told the students to not touch the brooms until she got back.

Draco was in giggles until his eyes focused on something, a mischievous look on his face. Dahlia followed his gaze, spotting Neville's rememberball. When he made a lunge for it, she waved her hand, tying his shoelaces together, causing him to trip over his own two feet.

Some students, Slytherins included, burst out in laughter.

'Come to me.' She told the rememberball with her mind, as everyone's attention was on Draco. It rolled to her and she picked it up.

"Stop laughing at him!" She scolded the crowd. "Draco was only trying to get Nev's rememberball for him! Wasn't that nice of him, Harry?" She held out Neville's rememberball to Harry, all the while looking at Draco with an intense look.

Draco had quickly stood back up and untied his shoelaces with his wand in a swift movement. He sneered at Dahlia. He was not happy.

Good, that ought to show him. He'll learn to be a good boy, one way or another.

"Thanks, Draco." Harry said, pocketing the rememberball. "That was nice of you."

On their way back inside, Draco jumped Dahlia as Harry was busy with a group of admirers. Draco pointed his wand at Dahlia's throat, a hand gripped the collar of her robes. "Alright, what's the gag, mudblood?!" He snarled.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Dahlia said. "And get that thing out of my face!" She swatted at his wand, knocking it out of his hand.

"Are you just trying to screw with me, or what?!" He hissed. "Because if you are, I'll fix you up now!" He tightened his grip.

"No." She said quietly.

"Then, why did you trip me and..." he paused, narrowing his eyes. "...then defend me?"

"You want to be Harry's friend, right?"

"Well... yeah, of course I do! Who doesn't?!"

"What about his _best_ friend?" She asked.

"I think Ron's about filled that spot." Draco scowled.

Dahlia shrugged. "There's no rule saying that you can't have two of them."

"But why would you even care?"

"Well, you _are_ a nice guy, aren't you?"

His grey eyes studied hers before the hard look on his face faded away. "Some say... I am not. They say that I can not be."

"But what do you say, Draco?" Dahlia asked pressingly. "It only matters what you think. You do not have to live up to who other people say you are." He didn't say anything as he took in her words, chewing the inside of his lip. "Look, Draco, Harry's been bullied all his life, he's not going to be friends with someone who does it. So, if you really are determined to be his friend, you must stop acting like a prick. Harry's going to be big one day; you can either be big alongside him, or get covered by the shadows of his fans. It's your choice."

"How can you be so certain that he'd be my friend?" He asked slowly with curiousity.

"I just am..." She whispered to him. "Now let me go before Harry catches you and thinks you're trying to beat me up."

He shoved her away. "You are the most annoying girl I have ever met, Miss Dursley. And that's saying something, since Granger has a way of raking under your skin." He grumbled, snatching his wand from the ground. "How did you tie my shoelaces up anyway? I don't remember seeing you equipped with your wand."

"You must have forgotten then." She pulled out her wand. "I got it right here, see?"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15-**

_"Please help him!" the frantic voice begged over and over as the woman gripped Dahlia's robes. "Please! Do something!"_

_"I-I can't..." Dahlia said, avoiding her eyes. "You know... You know I can't..."_

_"There must be something you can do!" The woman demanded._

_"I-"_

Dahlia sat up in bed, breathing heavily from the nightmare. "Harry..." she whispered, wiping away a tear that had built up in her sleep. She hastily tossed her covers off her and switched into the shoes that she used for walking.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked sleepily when she heard Dahlia open the door to their dorm.

"Nothing." Dahlia said. "Go back to sleep." She made her way down to the common room.

"Do you think he's still in the infirmary?" Dahlia heard Ron whisper.

"It's just a broken wrist, Ron." Harry told him. "Knowing Nev, he's probably forgotten the password."

"Harry!" Dahlia gasped. _He was alright!_

"What's wrong, Lia?" Harry asked as she crashed into him, hugging him.

"I just..." she took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Had a bad dream is all, I dreamt you were eaten by a big dog."

Ron eyed her strangely. "Anyone tell you that you're a bit on the weird side?"

"We were wondering where Nev is." Harry informed Dahlia quickly to prevent an argument from happening.

"You're going to look for him?" Dahlia asked.

"Well, just to check the stairs." Harry shrugged.

"You wouldn't want to get Gryffindor in trouble, would you?"

The boys groaned to the voice of Hermione Granger.

"Go back to bed." Ron grumbled, making his way to the portrait.

"But you'll get caught and all the points I earned today will be void!" Hermione insisted, following Ron out of the Common Room, Harry and Dahlia hurrying behind her.

"We're only worried about Neville." Harry assured Hermione.

"There he is!" Dahlia pointed down the case of stairs to a plump shivering body. "Nevvie!"

"Oh, I am so glad you are here!" Neville gasped in relief as they hurried to him. "The Bloody Baren's been by two times already!" He whimpered. "I had forgotten the password and the Fat Lady refused to let me in without it."

"It's okay, Nev, we know it." Dahlia patted his back to comfort him.

"How's your arm?" Harry asked eyeing it.

"It's fine." Neville said, holding his arm up. "Madam Pomfrey fixed it in just a minute."

"Can we go back to the Common Room now?" Hermione asked impatiently.

The first year Gryffindors climbed the stairs back up to the Fat Lady.

"Where'd she go?!" Neville asked when he noticed the portrait was empty.

"Oh great!" Hermione hissed. "She's gone off for a break! What are we going to do?! Fifty points to each of us. Two hundred and fifty points! A week of points gone! Gone!"

"Hush!" Dahlia covered Hermione's mouth with her hand. "We'll just go get Professor McGonagall and explain everything."

Hermione nodded eagerly and Dahlia removed her hand. Harry started down the long trail of staircases to the Head of Gryffindor's chambers.

"We need to watch out for Filch." Hermione warned them in a whisper.

"And his evil cat." Ron added.

They walked for a few moments in silence until Neville let out a shriek and smacked into Dahlia, startling her and knocking her down, him rolling over the top of her and crashing into a stand that held a large vase.

"Look out!" Harry shouted, catching the vase just as it was about to topple on Neville. Ron assisted Harry and set it back into its perfect position on its stand.

"Someone's coming!" Hermione whispered. "Come on!" She gestured them to follow her.

"Naughty students out of bed." They heard a voice sneer. "Go get them, my sweet."

"Filch." Harry informed them with no necessity.

"Oh Merlin!" Neville whimpered.

"Shh!" Ron told him as the five of them inched along a wall as quietly as they could.

"They are getting closer..." Dahlia whispered. "We should run. He's much slower than us."

Harry nodded. "Okay..." and with that, they took off as fast as their legs could carry them, making a racket as they did so against the quiet hollow corridor. Harry, the fastest of them all, took the lead, having no idea where he was going.

After many corridors and two passage ways later, they wound up near their Charms classroom. Professor McGonagall's chambers were three floors above them.

"I think we've lost them." Harry said through heavily breathing. The five first years leaned up against the wall, catching their breath. Dahlia's lungs burnt like fire, and she and Neville were stuck in a coughing fits.

"We are not that far away." Hermione pointed out, when she could talk normally again.

Harry nodded. "Let's go then."

They didn't get far along before something came shooting out of a classroom.

"Oh!" A voice squealed. "Ickle Firsties wandering out past curfew! How naughty of you the lotty."

"Go away, please!" Harry pleaded. "We're only trying to get help from Professor McGonagall."

"Leave us be, Peeves!" Ron said.

"Wouldn't Filch love to know this? I ought to tell him." Peeves said innocently with glittering eyes. "How else would you learn then?"

"Just get out of our way, Peeves!" Ron shoved at him.

Peeves' face scowled before he started shouting, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Over and over.

They took off after that, not wanting to get caught. Harry lead them to the end of the corridor to a locked door.

"We're trapped." Harry announced after trying to open it.

"What do we do?" Ron whimpered. "I don't want to get expelled! What would Mum and Dad say? And my wand..." he looked at it lovingly. "Oh, they'll break my wand!"

"Oh, move over!" Hermione snatched Harry's wand and unlocked the door with a spell before slipping inside. The rest of them followed, and together they shut the door.

The group listened as Peeves teased Filch with the knowledge of the first years whereabouts. Dahlia wondered why Peeves just didn't tell Filch their location.

"We'll be fine." Harry told them when Filch's cursing voice faded. Harry pushed Neville away who had been clutching in fear onto his bathrobe. "What's wrong with you, Nev?" He asked the shuddering boy.

Dahlia looked to where Neville pointed and her heart began racing in fear. "The-The dog, Harry!" She gasped. "Like in my dream!"

"You sure know how to dream!" Ron shrieked at the nasty, huge three headed beast of a dog.

It started growling then. Harry fumbled with the door, opening it back up. The first years fell backward into a ball, Harry slammed the door shut and they all, with shaky legs, ran back up the way they had came from. None of them stopped running until they got back to the entrance of their common room, the Fat Lady having had returned to their relief. The Fat Lady scolded them, but not one of them cared.

"Pig Snout." Harry repeated over and over with frantic gasping.

Once inside, they each collapsed into an arm chair and didn't speak for a while. Neville was as white as a ghost.

"Harry...in my nightmare... that... that thing, it ate you- shredded you a part into many pieces!" Dahlia told him. "Don't go back there, please, Harry!" She said tearfully.

"I don't plan on it." Harry muttered.

"Why would they house such a dangerous beast?!" Ron demanded. "It could have killed us!"

"I think its guarding something." Hermione said thoughtfully. "Didn't you see the trap door?"

"I was kind of distracted by its three heads, Hermione." Harry said.

Hermione stood up, glaring at them. "I'm going up to my dorm now and count my blessings that I am still alive and not expelled!"

Dahlia followed her, thinking that that was a swell idea.

"I can't believe them!" Hermione shrieked.

"They were only worried about Neville." Dahlia defended them.

"Yes, well, next time they should alert Percy about a missing student!"

"And we could have alerted Audrey just the same." Dahlia pointed out.

Hermione huffed before laying down to sleep, unwilling to admit that Dahlia had spoken the truth.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16-**

Hermione didn't talk much to any of the others for the next few days. Dahlia guessed it was from the scare more than anything. None of the boys appeared upset by this, since it kept her from her constant lengthy descriptions and explanations of any and all topics that came up.

Ron and Harry talked about the package that Hagrid had picked up from Gringotts. Harry seemed to had come across the idea that that was what the dog was guarding. Dahlia didn't understand Harry's fascination with it, but she let him talk. Neville and Dahlia didn't want to go near that thing ever again, and were disinterested in the topic.

"Silencio, you stupid cricket!" Dahlia seethed. She still couldn't get it to stop chirping.

"How do you get that to make so much noise anyway?" Seamus asked, giving it a poke of his finger. The cricket jumped into Lavender's hair who screeched and flung it back at Dahlia, giving her an evil eye. "Crickets usually go quiet around people."

Dahlia took out a potion from her pocket. "Hermione's idea. A Babbling Serum. One drop and this thing will 'sing' for hours."

Seamus laughed. "Brilliant!" He then tried silencing the cricket himself.

"Ah finally! Someone who knows what they are doing!" Lavender said in relief when he had cast the spell with little issue.

Dahlia bit the inside of her lip. For the life of her, she could not figure out what was wrong with her. Come to think of it... she was failing Transfigurations too. Having been one of the few who had yet to make her match turn over.

"Jude says she can teach another lesson this afternoon." Draco said to Harry after he had approached the table.

"What time?" Harry asked.

"After our Potions lesson. Four. We'll be there." Draco answered, speaking for himself and Gregory and Vincent.

"Say, how are you boys doing on the silencing charm?" Dahlia asked Draco's friends with curiosity.

Vincent, who hardly spoke to anyone besides Gregory, shrugged, but his best friend said, "Okay, I guess. We've been working with Vincent's toad now."

"Yeah, I swelled up Rulla's tongue." Vincent added with a chuckle.

"Is that your toad's name?" Ron asked, earning a nod in answer.

"Why, Miss Dursley, a brilliant witch such as yourself isn't still stuck on the cricket, are you?" Draco asked with a smug grin after noticing the cricket and her drawn wand. "I am still waiting for you to show me that thing you promised me."

"Don't tempt me, Draco." Dahlia said sweetly. Right now, she wanted to turn his hair green and prove to him that she was a real witch. But now was not the time. She'll stuff his foot in his mouth eventually. The image of that sent her into giggles.

Draco rolled his eyes before joining in on Harry and Ron's Quidditch conversation.

At the start of Potions that day, Dahlia set her essay on Professor Snape's desk along with a tip from Grandmother's experiment book. If he continued his part of the bargain, she'd make a copy of the entire work for him, since she wasn't going to need it. Not as much as he, anyway.

"It worked." Professor Snape told her quietly as he handed Dahlia a piece of parchment that would tell her her recent grade.

Dahlia simply nodded, refraining from showing a smug grin. She had known it would work, but if she let him know in anyway that she was jerking him around- playing him like a puppet, everything would be ruined. She had to keep her cool.

Hermione sat in her seat, a wide grin on her face, admiring her top grade. "Ouch." She said after catching an eye at Dahlia's grade.

Dahlia pursed her lips. Sixty-Nine. Well, she wasn't completely flunking, at least. Not like the fifty ('For effort' Professor McGonagoll had wrote below her grade) she got in Transfigurations. Her parents, especially her mother, weren't going to be thrilled with this.

"I bet it was because of your glittering potion!" Hermione said with a know it all tone.

Dahlia smiled. "Oh, yes, that _must_ be it." She said dryly.

"Well, I think it's an unfair grade." Ron whispered when he noticed. "I even scored higher than you!" He showed off his shiny eighty-one score. "And you helped me loads of times!"

"Hey!" Draco exclaimed. "Well done, Mr. Potter!" He smacked Harry in the shoulder playfully. "Look what Harry got!" Draco waved Harry's paper to the Gryffindors.

"Golly! A ninty-five!" Ron breathed. "Nice job, mate!"

Harry grinned proudly. "Thanks." It was his turn to admire his paper.

"It's all in the partner!" Draco sat up taller, showing his off one-hundred.

"Nice job, you guys." Dahlia complimented. Now to find out why she was scoring so horrid in potions. She had known it wouldn't be her best subject, but she had also thought she be around eighty.

"Sir." Dahlia approached the professor after everyone had left.

"Yes?" His attention mostly on the papers he was reading.

"My grade is pretty low."

"If you want to know why it is that low, you should just ask why and not expect me to fish the question out of you."

"Alright, Professor Snape, why is my grade so low?"

"Great Potioneers can not be squeamish, Miss Dursley. You can not keep having your partner do all of the slimy work..." he finally looked up from a stack of papers, a smirk on his face. "Unless of course you wish to go through school with that grade alone."

"I don't think I can touch those... things..."

"That's quite alright, Miss Dursley. You'll still graduate, should your performance stay the same, but you will only just barely pass. It's an issue that only you can deal with. Now, don't you have somewhere else to be?" He raised his eyebrows. "Wouldn't want to keep your friends waiting."

"I only have one friend." Dahlia informed him, stuffing her poorly graded paper into her bag.

The professor gave her a strange look of curiosity, but didn't ask any questions and returned back to his work.

"Good luck with your potion, sir."

"Mmhm." He said with a preoccupied tone.

* _/_ *

"You're still on the cricket?" Jude asked Dahlia as the others were working on the new spell she had just shown them; a stunning spell that worked immensely on trolls because of their lack of using their brains.

"Yeah..." Dahlia said slowly, watching everyone else outperform her.

"You should have learned it by now." Jude told her. "I mean, even Crabbe and Goyle have learned it." She gestured to the bigger boys. "And their brain usage isn't much passed a troll. Their fathers aren't too bright either. I keep thinking it's because they married too close of relatives- first cousins, you see."

Dahlia wrinkled her forehead, and glanced at her own cousin. Harry was special to her, but she could never marry him. She shuddered. "Gross."

"Indeed." Jude agreed. "So, can you do anything at all?"

"Not much... Not with my wand."

Jude tilted her head. "Odd choice in words... What do you mean by that?"

"Well... not many people know this, but I can do all sorts of spells without the use of my wand."

Jude crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't play me now, Dursley! I don't like tricks!"

"I am serious!" Dahlia insisted. She put her wand into her robes and looked at Jude's shoes. "Turn blue." She ordered the shoes.

Jude's eyes widened as the shoes did as Dahlia had instructed. "Come here!" Jude grabbed onto Dahlia's upperarm and escorted her out of the room from the others. "Who else knows this?!" She whispered to Dahlia in the empty corridor.

Dahlia shrugged. "Harry and Hermione. I don't tend to brag about it."

"Well, that's a good thing!" Jude said breathlessly. "Don't tell anyone else either! And I hope you trust them, because if this gets out, you will be in danger!"

"Danger?! Why?"

"Wandless magic at such a young age?! _Controlled_ wandless magic?! Most wizards can't do that until they graduate University, and even then, there are limitations!" Jude started pacing nervously. "No, if the wrong people find this out, Miss Dursley, they will hurt you-do you understand me?!"

"Hurt me?"

"Yes! They will use you as a weapon. You see, without a wand, you can be unstoppable..."

"Unstoppable! That's ridiculous, everyone and everything has a weakness."

Jude nodded. "I suppose your right... But... it's something still to be discovered with you. Keep it a secret! I mean it now!"

"Alright... what do I do about my... ill performances?"

"The other hand of course!"

"My left hand?" Dahlia frowned. She was right handed.

"Yes, it will work better than the other, though not greatly." Jude looked down at Dahlia with pity. "You will probably not get any Os on your OWLs. I am so sorry for you."

"But I'll pass, right?" Dahlia asked with concern.

"If you try very hard, you may get As, but I wouldn't count on it. Your wand is literally a handicap, and not a good one."

"Lovely..." Dahlia muttered. This complicates things big time.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17-**

"She's right." Hermione snapped the book that she had been reading shut. She sat on her bed, surrounded by many books. "Anyone in history who has performed controlled wandless magic has turned into a Dark Wizard, either by choice or through other means, such as the imperio curse. None of them ending happily."

"No good wizards?" Dahlia asked disheartened.

Hermione bit her bottom lip and shook her head.

"You think I am bad now, don't you?"

"Well, no." Hermione looked away. "You've done plenty of nice things, but the statistics are there." She gestured to the books.

"Well, I'm the exception then!" Dahlia said, an anger building up inside of her. She was far from evil! She may do deceitful things, but it was all for good. Good! And it was never done for herself! Nothing was ever done for her! She wasn't allowed to do that!

"Okay." Hermione said carefully. "I believe you."

Dahlia took a few breaths to settle herself down. She hardly got so upset, but to think someone would consider her a bad being irritated her. "I hope so." She said quietly. "It's not my purpose."

"Purpose?"

"In life. You know?"

"You already know your purpose in life?" Hermione asked doubtfully.

Dahlia uncomfortably glanced at Stivus who was slithering around her feet. "I do."

"What is it?" The know it all was curious.

"Well, I am not sure I am allowed to tell anyone." Dahlia said. Sometimes she felt so lonely, knowing that she couldn't build up relationships with anyone. As it was, she was playing with fire with her closeness with Harry.

"Why not?" Hermione asked. "There's no laws saying so!"

"But it's different with me, Hermione. One day you'll understand."

* _/_ *

By Halloween, Dahlia had been able to increase her Transfiguration grade by thirty points. So she was scoring eighty now. It wasn't great, but with the use of her wand, she'd have to accept it. Professor McGonagall was pleased with her improvement, and even awarded Dahlia with five points at the last lesson.

Her Defense spells had also improved. While she was still behind Vincent and Gregory, she at least could silence a toad's croak now.

Her potion grade was still sixty-nine as every time she went to touch something slimy or just disgusting in any manner, (like troll mucus-YUCK!) she would start a series of gagging. Many of her classmates laughed, and she even seen Harry hide a smile from her over reaction on her effort in measuring werewolf dandruff. She would laugh afterward, but during each event she was too focused with not throwing up. The smell alone was nauseating.

All her other classes she did well in though. She had top grades in History of Magic, and Defense Against the Dark Arts since there was no physical activity involved in any of that (at least in the actual class). In Herbology, most of that was book work, or little wand use, to which her partner, Hermione, would cast any spells the pair needed. The girl was amazing, mastering all the spells she had learned (be it from a book or by person).

"I'm sure you're all ready to make objects hover and fly?" Professor Flitwick addressed his class on Halloween morning. Everyone nodded eagerly. One boy said, "Yes! Finally!"

Dahlia was often paired up with Harry in this class. She had a feeling that the charms professor adored them together. She was supposed to be trying to put a bit of distance between her and Harry now though, so he could be the powerful wizard he was destined to be. Being in the same house was important, yes, but he needed to make new friends now.

"I wonder what he would do if he knew that you could do it a different way." Harry murmured to Dahlia as they both struggled to make their feather fly.

"Probably think I am the spawn of some dark wizard." Dahlia grumbled, setting her head into her hand. "It's just not right, Harry. I have to purposely hold myself back, and not for reasons of my own. It's not supposed to work this way..."

"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" Ron was heard shouting in frustration.

Next to him, Harry patted at Neville and Seamus' feather that had caught fire. "Heh, thanks, Harry."

"Ronald, it's Wing-gar-dium Levi-osa." Hermione corrected gently. "Let me show you."

Ron sighed in annoyance, he was already displeased that he got stuck with Hermione, who really only was ever quiet when a teacher was lecturing them.

And, of course, Hermione could not fail at a performance, earning a compliment from the teacher. It was great that she was perfect and all, but her continuance of being the best was not helping her make any friends at all. Which meant she stuck to Dahlia like glue, since they were dorm mates, and after nearly two months, Dahlia could actually admit that the girl was finally getting on her nerves. Unlike Ron, though, Dahlia had a little self control. She didn't want to make Hermione feel horrid.

Hermione needed to latch onto someone else though. Dahlia couldn't be her friend.

"Miss Dursley!" Professor Flitwick called out to Dahlia on their way out. She waved for Harry to go on. Ron was muttering things to him, Dahlia could only assume that it was about Hermione.

"Yes, professor?" Dahlia inquired once the rest of the class had left.

He pointed to her right arm. "Did you suddenly switch dominate hands?" He asked curiously.

"Yes..." God, the teachers noticed such things?! "I found out that I am better at casting with my left arm."

"Oh, it's just an interesting thing. No one usually does that." He said with a glint to his eyes. "Have a good lunch."

Dahlia thought Professor Flitwick may have thought something was up. She hoped she was wrong.

"Where's Hermione?" She asked when she noticed her missing Herbology partner later that day.

Ron shrugged. "A peaceful class this will be, that's for sure."

Harry nudged him. "Don't be mean." He whispered.

Dahlia grouped with Harry and Ron since she had no partner.

Hermione didn't show up for History of Magic either, and Dahlia knew something was up then. Hermione didn't miss classes. Was she hurt?

"Don't go in there. Granger's in there." Parvati Patil, who just emerged from the girl's bathroom, informed her best friend, Lavender. "She's screaming and everything. I tried asking what is wrong, but she doesn't want my help."

"It's Granger," Lavender said. "Remember she doesn't need anyone's help. She can do anything and everything on her own."

Ron suddenly looked guilty.

"What'd you do?" Dahlia asked.

"Nothing!" But Dahlia could tell Ron may have been fibbing.

Dahlia sighed. It was only a matter of time before Ron would lash out at Hermione. "I'll go see what I can do." She told Harry who looked uncomfortable. Dahlia slipped into the bathroom. "Hermione...?"

"I said GO AWAY!" the girl screamed.

"It's me, Lia..." Dahlia stepped slowly toward where Hermione's voice came from. She heard a wet sniff.

"Leave me alone, please." Hermione's tone got softer. "I don't want to see anyone."

"I missed my best partner in Herbology earlier. Got stuck with a couple of blokes." Dahlia said. "Well, Harry's no bloke, but Ron, he can be one."

"I don't want to talk about that... that boy!" Hermione huffed. Dahlia finally found the stall she was hiding in and stood on the outside of it.

"Sometimes boys don't understand." Dahlia said gently. "Then they grow up into men and... still don't understand."

Hermione let out a soft giggle.

"I'd say he's jealous of you." Dahlia told her, leaning up against the closed door.

"You think so?" Hermione asked tearfully.

"Well, yeah. Otherwise, he would just ignore you. In that aspect, boys are no different than girls. Anyway, he's not as good as you, and your constant acceleration is making him and the rest of us look like invalids, which makes us despise you."

Hermione unlocked the door and Dahlia stepped away from it as Hermione opened it. Her face was swelled from crying, and she wiped it with a tissue. "Do you despise me?" She asked in a tiny voice.

"Not really, Hermione, but I'll be fair and admit that while you have been trying to slow your blunt corrections down, you still have this way in making everyone around you feel like an idiot. You're super smart, and not everyone is going to be as smart as you. You're just going to have to understand that and stop belittling everyone, or just put up with people hating you."

Hermione nodded and then hugged Dahlia. "Thanks." She whispered. "You're the best friend a girl could have."

Dahlia hesitated before tapping Hermione's back.

 _Friend?_ She was only doing what she had to...

Dahlia hoped they would all understand. She smiled sadly, hugging Hermione back. "It's nice to be your friend too." She said quietly.

A loud thumping happened then, followed by a crash. Hermione pulled away from Dahlia. "Did you hear that?" She asked.

Together the girls hurried to the door to look out into the corridor. The door squeaked as it opened and they froze in horror at the sight of a troll several doors down. The sound of the noise from the door must had caught the troll's attention, as his head turned, cocked to one side, and met Dahlia's eyes. It then started walking toward them.

_Oh, boy..._

Dahlia quickly pulled Hermione back into the bathroom who was frozen in terror. The horrid smell that had permeated the corridor was settling into Dahlia's mind.

"Ugh! Doesn't that thing shower?!" Dahlia tucked her nose into the front of her robes. The thumping was getting closer. Hermione stood in terror and as the troll came to the doorway in view of the girls, she shrunk back against the wall, whimpering.

The smell had gotten a million times worse now that the troll was only feet from them. It made Dahlia dizzy. "Herm...Hermione... your wand..." she suggested weakly, taking deep breaths and swallows, trying to resist the urge of gagging.

Then Hermione screamed, loud and long. The troll roared and advanced on them, smashing his club into the sinks nearby.

Dahlia's heart raced with fear. She had to do something or Hermione was going to die. "Stu-stu..." Dahlia tried the stunning spell but the Troll's odor was so awfully strong that her vision was blacking out.

"Lia!" Harry's voice echoed into her head as she fell backwards into a faint.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Major changes from canon in this scene :) And a glimpse on what goes on inside Dahlia's head.**

* * *

**Chapter 18-**

"Harry!" Draco held his arm out to keep the boy from running towards the Troll and the girls. "Don't get yourself killed!"

"Confuse him!" Harry said frantically. He tossed a discarded faucet toward the wall, causing a clatter.

Draco's eyes widened as the Troll turned on them. "Uh... that was a brilliant idea... Har-Harry..." he stuttered. "Now what are we going to do, you idiot?!" Draco took out his wand.

"The stunning spell!" Ron also took out his wand.

Draco nodded, a look of terror on his face. "To-Together..." he whispered, eyes frozen on the troll. He screamed as the troll swung his club at him, ducking just in time. "Oh, Merlin...! I am going to die...!"

"Stupify!" Harry and Ron cast the stunning spell on the troll, who only scratched his head.

"Draco! We need your help!"

"I can't...!" Draco cowered by the demolished sinks. "We're not strong enough!"

"You're as good as Hermione at this spell!" Harry yelled. "And if you don't-" Draco screamed another time as the troll swung his club again and Draco just barely managing an escape, inches from being clobbered. "-we're all going to die!"

"I don't want to die!" Draco shrieked, crawling on his hands and knees toward the girls.

"Help us! Draco!" Harry said after casting another useless stunning spell.

"Oi, Pea brain!" Ron yelled. "Over here!"

"HELP US SAVE THEM!" Harry insisted, watching the troll go after Ron.

Draco stood up, his cold eyes narrowed at the Troll in determination. He took a deep breath. "Together, Harry." His voice was firm but his wand was shaking.

The three boys in unison put their full power into it- "STUPIFY!"

The troll's eyes crossed, and with a loud groan he fell to the ground, burying Ron beneath him.

"RON!" Harry yelled.

"I'm ok-kay." Ron's weak voice returned and he emerged from between the troll's legs. "Well... physically." He shuddered standing up. "Wouldn't wish that onto no body."

"Bloody hell!" Draco sank to his knees, his body trembling. "Is-is she alright?" Draco asked Harry who had bent over Dahlia.

"She's still breathing... I... think she's only passed out." Harry announced.

Hermione was in tears. "If you hadn't come...!"

Something slammed then, making them all jump. Footsteps were coming toward them and Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Quirrell came into view. Professor Quirrell gave a shaky whimper after seeing the troll before taking a seat on a toilet, his hand to his chest.

Professor McGonagall gave each of the boys a look. "What on Earth were you thinking?" She asked shrillily. "Seeking out the troll?! You could have been killed!"

Professor Snape's eyes fell unto Dahlia before he swept quickly to her.

"Oh, dear heavens!" now it was Professor McGonagall's turn to clench her chest. "Is she-"

"She's fine." Professor Snape assured her quickly before she could finish. "Miss Dursley's only fainted." He conjured a potion and popped the cork swiftly before trickling it down her throat.

* _/_ *

_"You are getting too close to them." The man said disapprovingly._

_"I can't... stop that from happening." Dahlia said, shoulders slumped. "I am doing all I can..."_

_"It's not good enough!" He shouted to her. "You only have two jobs and the important one is to unite them all! You gave me your word that you could do this! The future of our existence lies on this. They must unite or the magic world shall crumble!"_

_"But not for many years..." Dahlia said quietly._

_"And do you think it would be wise to wait until the last minute?!"_

_"No, sir..."_

_"Then you best get back to work!" The man hissed._

_"Yes, sir..."_

* _/_ *

"Not so fast, Miss Dursley." Professor Snape instructed. "Rise slowly."

Dahlia squinted her eyes. "Hermione!" She gasped, suddenly remembering what had happened before she had fainted.

"I'm fine..." Hermione said stepping up to her. "The boys... they saved us."

Dahlia then saw the crowd. "Draco, you too?" She asked when she seen the blond sitting on his knees several feet away from her.

Draco avoided her eyes. "Well..." he coughed uncomfortably.

Professor McGonagall started lecturing them all then, telling them how foolish they had been.

"They were only trying to help us." Dahlia spoke up. "We were in the bathroom."

"And didn't know about the troll-" Hermione added.

"Until it was too late. We heard it, and then saw it in the halls and we got really scared." Dahlia said, giving the best little girl act she could muster up.

"So scared, that Lia fainted." Hermione said mimicking Dahlia perfectly. "And me... I was too frightened to even think." Hermione bowed her head in shame. "It wasn't their fault at all..."

"They were only trying to help their..." Dahlia's eyes shifted between the three boys. "Friends."

"We would have died without them." Hermione said trembling, knowing that that was the truth.

"And it's not like we really wanted to be near this creature in the first place. It could put a dung bomb to the test of the most disgusting things on the planet." Draco added with a sneer to the troll.

Professor Snape cleared his throat coolly and Draco stood up to his feet. "Which of you was the one to stun this beast?"

"Well-" Draco started.

"We did it together, Professor." Harry cut in. "We could not have done it alone. We weren't strong enough for it. But together, we must have had just enough strength. Trolls are just a pinch from being mindless."

"I see..." Professor Snape said. "I am afraid that your father will be alerted of this episode, Mr. Malfoy."

"Yes, sir." Draco's voice was quiet.

"Go easy on him, Severus." Professor McGonagall said with a huff. "How many first years do you know could manage a fight with a mountain troll and live to speak about it?" She earned smiles from the five students. "Be that as it may, you all were very brave and lucky. I will award the boys each five points."

"Malfoy also?" Professor Snape's question was very quiet.

"Of course, Severus! He helped, after all! Now, off to your houses." she said to the first years. "The feast has been resumed in your common rooms."

Out in the hall, before Draco could hurry to his common room, Hermione thanked the boys for their heroism.

"Yeah..." Draco said deep in thought. "I'll be lucky if I am alive by morning once my father hears about this."

"For your lack of thoughtfulness?" Ron asked.

Draco looked down at his shoes. "For saving two mu-ggleborns." He said before hurrying away.

"Must be tough..." Dahlia said, watching him scurrying further away from them. "To grow up under such rotten minded parents."

"No different than what you've grown up with." Harry pointed out.

Dahlia frowned. "Maybe..."

The next morning, Draco, Vincent, and Gregory came by to sit down for breakfast as they did often.

"You're still alive, Draco." Dahlia noticed with a smile.

"Yeah." He replied quietly.

"Oi, Malfoy!" A brunette girl from Hufflepuff came up to them. "Did you really smash a troll's head in?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Huh?" Draco asked.

"Well, that's what Vanice said! You and Potter and Ron Weasley saved two girls from that troll and everything!" She merely glanced at the other boys before smiling adoringly at Draco.

"Yeah, he's a real hero." Dahlia added.

"It's not a common thing for a Slytherin to do, you know!" The girl blushed before skipping off.

Draco scoffed. "Everyone acts so surprised when a Slytherin does something nice!"

"You're all just misunderstood, that's all." Dahlia said softly. "You know, I was almost made a Slytherin."

Vincent and Gregory's mouth dropped in shock, but Draco grunted. "Not surprising at all, really."

"Me too." Harry added.

"Blimey!" Ron gasped. "Same here!"

"Well, I almost became a Ravenclaw." Hermione sat proudly. "But the hat decided Gryffindor in the end."

"Perhaps more Gryffindors could have been Slytherins." Dahlia thought aloud.

"And the other away around." Draco said with a clearing of his throat.

"Aren't you like a Slytherin legacy or something?" Ron asked.

"Yes, so if I had been sorted into Gryffindor I would have been an embarrassment to Father, we can't have that. It's better this way."

"What does he have against Gryffindors?" Harry asked.

Draco shrugged. "Some rivalry thing. Dates back centuries ago. He'd be disappointed to know that I am not hexing your Gryffie arses right now. Probably drop a brick if he knew we ate breakfast together everyday."

Ron snorted out his drink of pumpkin juice, finding Draco's statement hilarious.

Dahlia wrinkled her nose at the mess. "Disgusting..."

* _/_ *

Professor Snape stood over his green brew. "It's taking too long." he muttered.

"You're not being patient enough." Dahlia told him.

"This isn't going to work. It's impossible to get cobra eyes to curdle."

Dahlia rolled her eyes. "I took you for a patient man, Professor."

"Life is shorter as you get older." He grumbled, stirring the brew.

Dahlia leaned over the desk and snatched the stirrer from him. "You know better than to do that, sir." She tilted her head at his odd behavior. "Are you okay?"

Professor Snape crossed his arms with a huff. "Course I am!"

"Well, I am just curious is all. My tips have proven twice so far, I would have thought by the third one, you'd have a bit more faith in them."

"I just don't see how dandelion petals can make snake eyes curdle."

"It's called magic." Dahlia whispered mysteriously.

"Which a lot of it is explainable."

"A lot, but not all of it." Dahlia said. "Look." She pointed to the cauldron; his brew had finally thickened into a black and yellow yogurt looking substance.

Professor Snape's eyes didn't leave the brew until Dahlia held out the stirrer to him several moments later. "It's... remarkable." He whispered, stirring the brew. "Do you realize how long I have been trying to get this to happen?"

"No." Dahlia answered truthfully.

"Since I was thirteen, when my mother first mentioned the snake eye curdling. She said only the best Potion Masters could do it. And since the best known ones- Carivour, Denton, and Bradley, wouldn't share on how to do it, it has been an over priced potion ingredient for nearly a century. The only one living now is Denton, and I hear he's done forgotten the recipe. This information is worth... a fortune in both knowledge and wealth." His eyes finally met hers. "You must have a secret..." he insisted. "a muggleborn with such knowledge is..." he paused, shifting his eyes away. "Well, not entirely unheard of, but rare."

"I won't lie, sir. I have a bucket load of secrets. This isn't my research, though, and I am not taking credit on it whatsoever. It is my information to give out though, as I am the legal owner of it all." Dahlia looked down at her hands. "It's not like I'll make grand use of any of it. And... well, you being a great Potion Master and all, you, of all people, will use it better than anyone I know."

"You could sell this... and make..." he let out a deep sigh. "So much wealth."

"I could." She agreed. "But that's not what I want to do with it."

"What do you want to do with it?"

She smiled at him. "You'll see."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19-**

"There's something strange about her." Severus said as he and Albus patrolled the corridors.

"You finally noticed this?" Albus asked.

"Obviously we've all noticed." Severus huffed. "But she's not normal. If I could lay a guess on it, I'd say she has her whole life planned out. To the exact minute. What child does that?"

"I suppose being attacked by a troll set her back two hours in her schedule." Albus chuckled.

Severus went quiet after that in wonder how those boys had been able to cast a third year defense spell and well enough to knock out a troll.

"Knut for your thoughts, Severus."

"I am curious on how many more of the first years are being taught advanced Defense. And who is teaching them, as we know Quirrell is awfully useless."

"I can trust you will discover this mystery?" Albus asked, giving a slight wink.

"Is there nothing I can hide from you?" Severus growled.

"I believe not." Albus said, separating from him at a fork. "Have a good night, my boy."

* _/_ *

"This spell is absolutely disgusting!" Dahlia shrieked, covering up her dripping nose. Judging by Ron's facial expression, he agreed with her.

"How can this defend me whatsoever?" Gregory asked, also holding his nose as a slimy mucus trail leaked through his fingers.

Hermione began casting the counter curse on all the victims. "Well, it's definetely distracting, and it could limit the breathing of the person you're attacking, allowing you a chance to slip away."

"It also can cause you to pass out in extreme cases, and make you even more ill if you don't get healed eventually." Draco added, his wand pointed at Harry, ready for another round.

"Don't you think it's my turn now?" Harry asked, lifting his own wand. "I would love to make you drip snot, Mr. Chuckles."

"Yes, switching time." Hermione instructed.

A chorus of "Faciat infirmos!" Followed as the partners switched positions. Hermione canceled Dahlia's with a counter, causing Dahlia to start tap dancing. Everyone started laughing, Vincent and Draco, who were the recent victims, shot out disgusting goo due to the excessive mucus that their noses were leaking with.

"Yuck!" Dahlia cried after Hermione released her from the jinx. She looked away from the streaks of sticky slime that clung to the floor. The others quickly started cleaned the messes up, Vincent and Draco breathing heavily and coughing from their curse. Harry removed their colds this time.

"Okay, I can see how this could work now." Gregory said after everything was cleaned up.

"We're going to switch rooms for our next lesson." Draco informed them. "Room 32M. Know where that is?"

"Um... Passed the staircase by the kitchen?" Harry asked in confirmation.

Draco nodded. "Snape's snooping around. I think he knows something's up."

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"You haven't noticed him appearing out of no where lately? More often than usual?"

Harry shrugged. "Guess not. We try to avoid him." He said referring to the Gryffindors.

"Well, Snape's sneaky, but he may not realize I am just as sneaky." Draco grinned smugly. "Just be on the lookout, you Gryffies aren't as stealthy as we."

Vincent and Gregory nodded in agreement.

"Will do." Harry said before opening up the door and peeping his head out to check if anyone was in the hall. He nodded to the others, letting them know it was okay to come out.

"Quidditch starts next week!" Ron said in excitement, bringing the topic up for the third time that day.

"I know!" Draco said. "Can't wait!" As the group walked up to the Great Hall, Draco fished out a book from his bag. "Here, Harry. I'll let you borrow this." He handed the book to him. "Quidditch Through the Ages. Been meaning to give this to you."

"Thanks!" Harry said, and immediately started thumbing through it. "Over seven hundred fouls! All in one game!" He gasped. "Wow!"

"Done in 1943." Ron then started explaining how that particular game went. And if Ron could memorize his text books like he did with events in Quidditch, he'd be just as good as Hermione with his studies.

Two days before the first Quidditch match started for the season at Hogwarts, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Dahlia stood out in the frigid air, studying for their Charms essay.

"Hey, look." Harry pointed across the way to Professor Snape who was walking with a limp. "What do you think happened to him?"

Dahlia frowned. "I don't know..."

"Maybe he kicked at Mrs. Norris and the bloody cat clawed him." Ron suggested.

Hermione gave him a look. "I doubt he kicked Mrs. Norris."

"Not saying that the cat didn't deserve it." Ron muttered.

Professor Snape then caught sight of them and limped over.

"Are you okay, Professor?" Dahlia asked curiously, before he could say anything.

"Course I am!" He grunted. "Why are you not inside? What do you have there, Potter?"

"We're only studying, sir." Dahlia assured him as Harry held up his Charms book to the professor.

Professor Snape pressed his lips together. "Hmm. Well, continue on then. Perhaps you ought to move inside where it's warmer." He muttered before limping away.

"Is it just me, or does he seem to hate me?" Harry asked when the professor was far enough away.

"He does single you out often." Hermione said after a thought.

Dahlia shrugged. "You do have this guilty look to you all the time." She teased Harry. "Oh! Maybe he knows about your snake summonings! Maybe he's afraid you're going to put one on his desk chair."

"I would never do that." Harry said, unamused by Dahlia's jokes. "Not on purpose anyway."

* _/_ *

"Ready to lose today?" Draco asked the Gryffindors two days later.

"I could ask you the same." Harry shot back.

"Our team's been practicing since Day One." Draco said smugly. "And we've won the cup since '86!"

"Time for a change then, Draco." Ron said. "We'll win this year, just like we'll win the House cup!"

"We shall see-ee." Draco sung out before going off to his Slytherin friends to prepare for the day's competition.

"Too bad you can't play, Harry." Ron said. "With as good as you are on a broom, you would be a teriffic asset to the team."

"Perhaps next year." Dahlia said before taking a bite of her breakfast cereal.

All the Quidditch players that would play that day were very nervous. Some looked green, and others were extremely grumpy. A Gryffindor/Slytherin match was supposedly the most important, because they were the most competitive houses out of them all.

Olivor Wood, who was the Gryffindor's team captain went to each team member and made sure they ate something. "You'll need your energy now!" He was heard saying.

As the players were getting ready, the rest of the school piled outside, sitting in the bleachers high up in the sky. A handful of the first year Gryffindors held up a hand made banner that flashed with "Go Gryffindors!"

"My, that's a brilliant banner!" Lavender commented when she saw it.

"We made it!" Hermione, Ron, and Dean said proudly.

"Beats the Slytherin's tiny little ones." Dahlia said, pointing to Draco who waved a hand held banner.

The game soon started, and Dahlia, who wasn't much of a sports fan, couldn't quite keep up. The quaffle was being passed back and forth too fast, but she cheered with the others when Gryffindor had its possession and booed when Slytherin had it. Finally someone scored, and the Gryffindors yelled with excitement, while the Slytherins howled unhappily.

Hagrid squeezed his way to Ron and Harry. "Been watchin' from me hut. Tot I'd come down an' enjoy the match from teh best view."

"Hey, Hagrid!" Ron and Harry exclaimed without taking their eyes off the game.

"There's the snitch!" Harry exclaimed, pointing it out.

"Ruddy hell, and our seeker hasn't seen it!" Ron said with disappointment.

"How can you not!" Harry grumbled as his eyes flickered back and forth, watching the snitch closely. The movement made Dahlia dizzy. She focused her eyes back on the Slytherin's beaters who were giving Angelina Johnson a rough time.

"This game is too dangerous." She said, watching the girl take a nose dive, and pull her broom back up just inches from the ground. "It's no wonder first years are forbidden to play."

"But that's part of the fun!" Seamus argued.

"What the hell?" Dahlia said as she saw something abnormal occur. No one else seemed to notice that the Gryffindor's seeker had suddenly started making odd twists and jerks in the air. His face scrunched up as if he was lifting a heavy box. He spun in circles really fast until he lost his grip and was tossed from the broom. That's when everyone noticed the boy. Screams erupted as they watched the boy fall and just as he went to meet the ground, he stopped, froze for a second, and dropped to his finish.

"Is he alright?!" Hermione asked, standing on her tip toes.

"Aye. Dumbledore caught his fall. Brilliant man, Dumbledore." Hagrid informed her.

But as everyone's attention had been on the falling boy, no one noticed the boy's broom had been still moving on its own, and Dahlia caught sight of it just in time. "Harry!" She screamed. "Look out!"

Harry ducked and avoided a hit in the face, and many other students screamed, dodging out of the way. The broom turned around in a haste, coming back, aimed right for Harry. Dahlia grabbed onto it to prevent it from another attack on him, hoping she could wrestle it under control. It yanked her into its flight and she screamed as she went flying high up in the sky. The broom jolted violently along the way to shake her off. In an attempt to keep from falling, she lifted her legs and wrapped them around the stick, hugging it for an extra grip. She closed her eyes to block out the spinning world around her.

"Help!" She pleaded. She was not a flyer. She wasn't afraid of heights, but after seeing the one kid nearly fall to his death, she wasn't about to see if Dumbledore could possibly do that twice in one day.

This was not how she was suppose to die. No, it was much too soon. Her task wasn't through yet. She was not ready to die.

"Lia!" Harry sounded way too close... She opened her eyes, gasping at Harry, who was eye level with her on a broom himself.

"No! Harry, get back!" She screamed as the broom she was 'riding' charged at him. Harry's eyes widened, and he steered his broom out of the way. Dahlia sped by him. The broom turned around at such a fast speed, Dahlia hiccup from sickness and all at once her limbs broke from the broom. She went falling just like the Gryffindor seeker had done.

"Lia!" Harry yelled above her, and she saw her cousin's worried face. He sped down faster than she was falling, his hand outstretch to her, and she grabbed it. With his help, she pulled herself up behind him on the broomstick, and Dahlia sighed with relief, wrapping her arms around him. If she wasn't so speechless, she'd had thanked him right then, but at that moment, she wasn't sure if she could talk at all without throwing up.

Once Harry landed, Dahlia rolled off the broom onto her back, breathing heavy from the rush of adrenaline from being so close to death. "Thanks!" She finally sputtered out.

Harry stood above her, a shy grin displayed across his face, before he could say anything, swarms of people surrounded them. They were cheering.

"Harry the hero!" One boy said.

"Did you see the way he flew?" A girl asked in a dreamy voice.

"Harry! You're amazing."

"Miss Dursley!" Professor McGonagall come up to them. "Thank heavens you're alright!"

"She'd be a splatter of meat if it weren't for Potter!" An older Gryffindor boy said.

"No need for the graphic details, Mr. Yates." Professor McGonagall said sternly.

"Thanks for letting me use your broom." Harry said, handing the broom back to a girl.

"Can you sign it?!" She asked eagerly.

Harry laughed. "Sure, but later, okay?" He pushed his way through his fans and bent down to pull Dahlia her up from the ground. "How are you?"

"Good." She smiled. "For just escaping death. You're turning into a real hero, Harry." He blushed.

"Mr. Potter!" Professor McGonagall gasped. "Amazing flying skills! It was a good thing you were bold and quick enough to help Miss Dursley. Fifteen points will be award to Gryffindor."

"Won't help much." One boy grumbled. "The Slytherins won after Henderson fell from his broom. Our team forgot to call time."

The crowd of Gryffindors moaned with disappointment then.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips. "There will always be another game." She said stiffly.

"I quit!" The boy (Henderson) that was the Seeker said to Professor McGonagall. "I didn't sign up only to have my broom bewitched! And nearly killed!" He shouted. "Those Slytherins- lot of cheaters they are!" He scowled.

"Mr. Henderson! I will not tolerate that kind of accusation!" Professor McGonagall scolded.

"Where in the bloody hell am I going to find a seeker now?! We can't play without a seeker!"

"Watch your language, Mr. Wood!"

"Sorry, Professor McGonagall." Olivor Wood mumbled.

"How about we have a small talk, Mr. Wood. Mr. Potter, you too. Let's go." Professor McGonagall motioned for the two boys to follow. Harry's smile faded into a frown, wondering what he had done wrong.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20-**

"It wasn't Professor Snape." Dahlia said for the tenth time that hour. Ron and Hermione had insisted that Professor Snape had been jinxing Henderson's broom to attack Harry.

"He had full eye contact on it and everything." Hermione argued.

"Who didn't?" Dahlia asked. "It was a bewitched broom attacking the most famous boy of our time."

"It wasn't a normal look though."

"I am telling you, it wasn't him."

"Then who would you suggest, Dahlia?" Hermione asked hotly. "Hagrid said it's not easy to bewitch a broom, and there's no possible way a student could have done it! And when I set fire to his robes, the broom suddenly stopped."

Dahlia frowned. She still wouldn't believe that he had done that. She shook her head. "No." She said sternly. "You can't go blaming someone without solid proof. It wasn't Professor Snape."

"And the broom falling was not proof enough?!" Ron demanded.

Dahlia sighed. "Not enough for me..."

"You'll never guess what just happened!" Harry exclaimed as he entered the common room, displaying the biggest smile Dahlia had ever seen him do.

"What?" She asked, smiling at his happiness.

"Professor McGonagall let me on the Quidditch team! I am the new seeker!"

"Blimey!" Ron gasped.

"That's great!" Hermione cheered.

"Yeah! Great!" Dahlia said forcibly. Deep down, she didn't like this at all, especially after what happened today. Someone was out to hurt Harry.

* _/_ *

"Nah, it wasn't Snape." Draco told the group the next day during their Defense practice, after Hermione and Ron told him about it.

"How do you know though?" Hermione asked.

"Professor Snape came to our house to help me get all the supplies I needed for the school year." Dahlia said.

"Did he now?" Draco cocked up an eyebrow, his wand drawn out at Dahlia, his jinx casting forgotten.

"He was forced to." Dahlia added. "Hated it." She laughed.

"And he didn't like how the Dursleys were treating me." Harry pointed out, countering Ron's jelly leg jinx.

"Plus, he could have hurt Harry many times over before now." Dahlia said.

"So what was he casting then?" Hermione thought aloud.

"Snape often gets spacey." Draco suggested with a shrug. "Like a deer in a set of headlights."

"His eyes were following the broom." Hermione reminded him.

"Well, then, obviously there's an explanation for it, and we'll just have to find that out." Draco grinned.

"Oh, are you're wanting to play Nancy Drew?" Dahlia asked excitedly.

"What in the bloody hell-"

"It's just a book series about a girl who under covers mysteries." Hermione informed Draco.

"Oh." Draco said. "Yeah, I am a bit curious about all of this." He admitted.

"Like why Harry was attacked." Dahlia said. "And who done it."

All through the rest of the month of November, as Harry was busy with his Quidditch practices, the rest of the group spent a great deal of their Saturdays spying on Professor Snape. They soon found out that his Saturdays were very boring. He would not come out of his chambers until nine AM, presumably catching up on sleep. He would go to his office after a shower to have his breakfast, and grade papers, finishing that by two in the afternoon. He would spend the rest of the afternoon 'wandering' the corridors for misbehaving students, often getting in a hilarious battle of witts with Peeves who could give the Weasley twins a run for their money, as he was worse than they were with practical jokes. Professor Snape would dine for dinner in the Great Hall, and at six in the evening, he usually had a student in detention until eight or nine. After nine, none of them knew what he did, since they had to go to their common rooms to avoid getting in trouble.

One morning at breakfast, just in the beginning of December, Draco finally announced something interesting. He motioned for them to tuck their heads in so only they could hear what he was about to say. "Remember when he had that limp last month?" He whispered.

The group nodded.

"He got bit by some beast of a dog. Tore his leg up really awfully. I overheard him talking with Hagrid about it. Cursing the man out and everything." Draco chuckled. "I guess it's named Fluffy. Snape wasn't too thrilled. Said his wound was still having issues with healing." Draco's forehead wrinkled then. "It did look horrid. Can't help but to feel bad for him. Surprised he still has the leg."

"Poor Professor Snape." Dahlia frowned before looking at the man at the head table. He was watching them. She smiled and waved innocently. He did no such thing back, only blinked, and spooned a bit of cereal into his mouth without looking away.

"Get this, Fluffy is a three headed beast!" Draco informed them, having had not paused in his talking.

Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Dahlia all gasped then. The other three looked puzzled. "What?" Draco asked impatiently. "Tell me!"

"We've met that beast before!" Ron hissed.

"Nearly killed us!" Harry said.

"Why would Professor Snape even go in there?" Hermione mused.

"Maybe he wants to steal the package." Ron said.

"That's not it!" Dahlia told him. "He was talking to Hagrid about Fluffy remember? Maybe he's helping Hagrid?"

"You know, Hagrid is good about letting things slip." Harry said with a cocky grin.

"That's right! We ought to have a talk with our gameskeeper friend!" Ron wore a matching grin.

"Well, try to be subtle at least." Draco warned them. "We don't want to get caught!"

The seven of them spent the next two weeks trying to find anything to do with a man named Nicholas Flamel, a name Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been able to pull from Hagrid. They had no luck though.

"I am _so_ looking forward to the Holiday." Draco sighed with exhaustion as they stopped to allow Hagrid pass by with an enormous Christmas tree.

"Need help?" Ron asked Hagrid.

"Naw, I gots it. Come an' see how teh Great Hall is comin' along, kids, Yeh'll love it!"

In the Great Hall, they took in the glorious scene of thousands of blinking fairy lights. Mistletoe and holly were festively hung perfectly along the pathways and walls. There were many Christmas trees already decorated, each in its own uniqueness.

Professor McGonagall directed Hagrid to a corner where he set the tree down. Dahlia and Hermione helped him fluff out the piny smelling branches, breathing in heavily at the lovely scent.

Professor Flitwick set a ladder near the tree and climbed high up it, before he started decorating the tree with a strand of baubles stringing from his wand. "Happy Holidays." He greeted cheerfully, and resumed his whistling of a holiday tune.

"I can't believe you're staying here for the Holiday." Dahlia said to Harry sadly.

"I think I'll have more fun here with Ron." Harry told her seriously.

"Just... don't do anything stupid. If I could have talked Mum and Dad into letting me stay, I would have."

"Yeah, don't do anything without us." Draco said. "Save the fun for when we get back."

"Stick to the books." Hermione said sternly. "And if you need any help, we're only an owl away."

"Yes, Mummy." Ron said jokingly.

Dahlia then caught Professor Snape stalking out of the Great Hall and hurried after him. "Professor!" She called after him. "Professor Snape!"

His shoulders slumped before he stopped. "Yes?" He asked with annoyance.

"I got something for you!" Dahlia said, taking out a stack of papers from her bag and holding it out to him. "Merry Christmas, sir."

A gap formed at the professor's mouth, slightly caught off guard from her gesture. He quickly regained himself and snatched the papers from her. His black eyes scanned the papers before he set them onto Dahlia. "This... is all mine?" He asked.

Dahlia nodded. "It's the complete list of experiments I have been sharing with you. You should find the one on page fifteen quite useful for your current project."

His eyes shifted back to the papers and he eagerly thumbed to the fifteenth page. His eyes widened. "How...?" His voice squeaked.

Dahlia hid a smile. "Perhaps one day you'll learn the answer to your question, sir." She said innocently. "Have a good Christmas."

"I have... nothing to give you in return." He said quietly to her back.

"But I don't want anything." She told him, turning back around to face him.

"Surely there's something...? Everyone wants something."

Dahlia's eyes lit up then, an idea popping into her head. _Of course...!_ "Professor, there might be something you can do actually." She said slowly, deep in thought. "It's something that I can't personally do, but I think you may have the power to get it done."

* _/_ *

"A whole two weeks!" Dahlia said, hugging Harry tightly. "I am really going to miss you!"

"Same here, Lia!" Harry hugged her just as tight.

"Please stay out of trouble, you won't have me to help you out of it!"

Harry nodded. "I'll try." He grinned.

"Have a good holiday! And no peeking at your gifts!" Dahlia teased him.

Her cousin smiled mischievously, making her giggle. "Tell Dud I said hi."

"He'll be so upset that you aren't coming." She pouted.

"Yes, but Hedwig's delivery of his gift should brighten up his vacation."

"What did you get him?"

Harry's eyes lit up. "You'll see."

"Mum's not going like this, is she?" Dahlia asked cautiously.

Harry laughed. "Probably not, but she might forget by the time summer comes around- I hope!"

Dahlia then got into the horseless carriage with Herimione, Dean, and Neville.

"Bye Harry, Ron!" Draco shouted from a near by carriage he was sharing with Gregory and Vincent, who were both waving.

"Bye!" Harry and Ron called back.

Draco gave a quick wave to Dahlia's carriage before getting himself comfortable.

"You'd think after three months he'd be a bit more charming." Hermione muttered.

Dahlia grinned. "Not Draco!" She gasped in sarcasm.

The Hogwarts Express was busy, the handful of students that were staying at the school didn't make any difference at all. Hermione, Dean, Dahlia, and Neville also shared a carriage on the train ride home, each explaining their family's Holiday traditions. Now that Dahlia and Dudley weren't home for most of the month of December, Dahlia wondered if her parents had waited to put their Christmas tree up or not. She didn't know, since the only letter she had received at all was one from Mum in response to her request in staying at Hogwarts with Harry. "We will pick you up at three pm, at Kings Cross as we had originally planned." Was all she had written back with.

Dahlia knew the only reason Mum wanted her home was to show her off at their annual Christmas party. If the Dursley daughter wasn't home for the holidays after not seeing her family for a few months, people might wonder why that was. Mum couldn't have that.

Dahlia sighed. At least she had Dudley and Dad to come home to.

She got off the train and her fellow housemates separated off to their families. Hermione giving one last wave to Dahlia after pointing her out to her parents who also gave a friendly wave. Dahlia returned the gesture with a smile. She then followed a crowd of people off Platform Nine and Three Quarters and 'teleported' to King's Cross.

"Lia!" She heard Dudley calling almost as soon as she stepped onto the walk path. The twins ran to each other.

"Dud!" She gasped out, hugging him. "Wow, you lost some weight!"

"Surprise! Lost almost three stones! Can you believe it?" He was positively in blissfulness.

"That's wonderful!" She exclaimed.

"Where's Harry?" he asked, looking at the location she had come from.

"He decided to stay at the school for Christmas." Dahlia said sadly.

"Well, that's no bloody fun!" Dudley frowned.

"Let's go then." Mum called out to them and started for the exit.

"Lovely Christmas this is going to be with her, eh?" Dudley said as they walked together, meeting up with their awaiting father. "Big ol' grump." He muttered.

"Hello, Pumpkin Cake." Dad greeting Dahlia and hugged her.

"Missed you, Dad!" She whispered, kissing his cheek.

"Me too." He whispered back, before the three of them followed the one Dursley who didn't want to even try to understand the magic world.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21-**

On the way home in the car, Dudley went on and on about his new school and how much he was enjoying it. He also had two new friends; Wallace, who was in weight loss training with him, and Derek, who was originally from upstate New York. Dudley said Derek and him were always making fun of each others accents.

When Mum had her chance, she started in on Dahlia's grades. Even though she didn't want to be considered the mother of a freak, she was very upset that Dahlia wasn't scoring the top grade like she had done in 'normal' school.

"It's not like I haven't been trying, Mum." Dahlia said. "By the second month, my scores went up by sixty percent. Well... most of them."

"Mum, it must be hard if Dahlia is struggling." Dudley said reasonably.

"Why is Harry out scoring her then?" Mum said stiffly.

Because Harry is a powerful, brilliant wizard who killed a dark powerful wizard when he was just a baby. Dahlia thought to herself.

"The stuff is icky, Mummy!" Dahlia wailed dramatically. "They expect me to touch slugs and eye crusties, and that sort of thing! It's really all disgusting!"

Mum's face turned green then. "Do not say anymore, Dahlia!" She ordered. "Mummy will be sick!" She covered her mouth with sickness.

Dudley and Dahlia exchanged grins.

"You put up the Christmas tree without us?!" Dudley wailed unhappily when they got home. "How could you, Mum?!"

"Doodlikins! Mummy's sorry!" Mum wailed. "I didn't give it much thought. The Berlons had their tree up already, I didn't want ours to be the last!"

Dudley put on his famous pout before stalking up the stairs. Dahlia couldn't blame him, every other year the family had done it together. Even Harry helped, although, he was mostly assigned the jobs no one else wanted to do; applying hooks on the ornaments and untangling the lights.

"I warned you that the kids would be upset." Dad told Mum with a shake of his of his head.

Mum pursed her lips in annoyance and turned on Dahlia. "Take your freakish stuff up to your room!" She ordered impatiently. Dahlia obeyed without a word, and started up the stairs.

"Here, let me." Dad offered, gently pushing her out of the way. Thanks to Professor Snape's charm, he was able to move it with no problem.

Once closed up inside the bedroom, Dahlia took out Stivus from her trunk and placed his habitation crate onto her nightstand. Mum still didn't know about Stivus. She hardly came into her room unless Dahlia called her for something. Now that Dahlia's magic was out in the open, Mum distanced herself from Dahlia.

"How was Hogwarts?" Dad asked her.

"It's interesting." She answered with a giggle. "Harry saved me two times."

"Did he?" He was heavily surprised by that. "From what?"

"First from a troll, and then a broom that someone had jinxed."

"A troll!" Dad's eyes grew wide. "What the bloody hell was a troll doing in the school?!"

"Keep it down!" Dahlia said gently. "Mum would not want to hear this."

Dad nodded in understanding.

Dahlia opened up the door to her companion's cage so he could wander and stretch out. She then gave him a cricket for a treat, that being his most favourite food.

"The troll got in somehow." She began with a shrug. "Some of us students believe it was done on purpose to get access to a certain item that belongs to the Headmaster. Thankfully, we had been practicing the stunning charm for nearly three weeks before though, and Harry and his friends saved me and another girl from it."

"Thank God he was there then." Dad sighed. "I didn't know that that school was so dangerous."

"It's usually not. They have the best teachers there who are better than most people in each of their skill. And it happened during our Halloween feast. Like I said, we think it was done as a distraction."

"None the less, I'll have to somehow thank my nephew for saving my baby girl..." Dad said with a twinkle to his eyes.

"Without also letting him know that you appreciate it." Dahlia reminded him.

Dad sighed. "This is all getting too complicated for my taste..." he grumbled before leaving the room, announcing that he was going to watch his favourite telly program.

Dudley came in shortly, looking depressed. "I was looking forward to my video games when I came back. I wanted to play them with Harry. I've lost in them interest now..." he informed her glumly.

"Aww, Dudders! It's okay, I'll play with you."

"Thanks, but you're not as good as him..."

Dahlia searched her trunk for something that would cheer him up. Thanks to all of Harry's friends and her friendly house mates, she had been given some things to borrow to show her brother, after Harry's request, knowing Dudley would be upset with Harry staying behind.

"Check this out." She said, pulling out a deck of playing cards. "These are themed with fairies." She told him, pointing out the animated females that were dressed very skimpily, revealing more cleavage and leg than necessary. Dahlia learned that the Weasley twins admired this particular deck of cards, but lent her them since they already had several decks hidden away somewhere for when their current one got confiscated.

Dudley chuckled. "You know, some of the boys at my school have some more revealing treasures than this."

"Yeah... but I wasn't showing these for that." She said rolling her eyes. "Watch." She sat on the floor of her room and motioned for him to join her. Dahlia touched the deck of cards with a finger, causing them to start shuffling.

"I thought you're not allowed to cast magic outside of the school?"

"I am not actually casting any magic. These cards have been specially programmed -charmed- to sense the touch of a human. They will even work with a non magical person. Try it."

Dudley's eyes grew wide with anticipating. He eagerly tapped the cards that were still magically shuffling themselves. At his touch, the deck of cards were cut, and then went still, awaiting for the next command. "Wicked! What's the game?"

"Blind Bat is a favourite amoung the Gryffindors." She informed Dudley and showed him how to play the trumping game. The two of them only needing to touch a card to have it do exactly what they wanted it to.

"How does it do that?" Dudley asked in awe, watching his card flutter to the spot between them.

"It's magic." Dahlia said with a grin, tapping her card that she had just played, letting it know that she had won the trick. The two cards flew up and piled themselves onto her pile of winnings.

"Brilliant...!" Her brother breathed, and they played for the next hour before their mum called them down for dinner.

They had a fairly quiet dinner, awkward because Mum wouldn't say anything but quick answers to Dahlia, even with Dudley trying his best to get her to talk.

Dad kept sending looks to Mum, annoyed, yet hopeful when Mum would actually speak. His eyes would go back to his plate of food, when she made no effort to treat Dahlia as her own kin.

"Mum, I could had made dinner, you know." Dahlia said softly, pressing her rice down with her fork, her appetite lost.

"Your mother has actually found out she enjoys cooking." Dad said gently. "She even watches cooking shows. Like you used to." he looked at Mum. "The very same ones." He added pointedly.

Mum stiffened with a huff. "The other chefs do not spend the time with explaining certain details like the ones I watch."

"Mmhm." Dad hummed with a doubtful tone. "Heaven forbid it be for another reason." He mumbled.

All through the next few days, Mum's awful mood clung on. She was able to put a fake happy face for her party though, cheerily welcoming their guests as they came into the house.

"Great." Dahlia groaned to Dudley. They stood out of the way of the flow of visitors, waiting for their mother to call them over to brag about their recent accomplishments. "Craig's here. I was hoping he wouldn't come." she said talking about the snobby neighborhood boy. Craig's family were much more snobby than the Dursleys, and Mum tried her hardest to impress them, especially since the boy fancied Dahlia.

Craig looked like the typical snobbish geek; big framed glasses, a checkered sweater vest, and his brunette hair was neatly combed, parted at the center.

As soon as he seen the perfect looking, red headed eleven year old girl that he so adored, he made his move, reminding Dahlia very much of Draco when he caught site of his unsuspecting prey.

"Miss Dursley." He gave a slight bow before holding out his hand for hers.

Inwardly, Dahlia cringed at his arrogance. Unlike Draco, she couldn't toy with him. She didn't have free range with him like she did with her family and wizards.

Without even looking, Dahlia could feel the holes that her mother bore into her. Mum couldn't stand the thought of her being a freak, but she expected the freak of a witch to act like the lady that she had raised.

One that sucked up to Craig Morgan.

Dahlia flashed her smile that only she knew was fake. "Craig!" She gasped in pretend surprise. "How lovely for you to come!" She set her hand on top of his, her smile frozen as he set his lips to it.

"Wouldn't miss it!" He told her.

Dudley rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you fetch me a cup of that wonderful punch your mother has made?" Craig asked Dahlia.

"Sure." Dahlia's teeth clenched as she turned from the boy. She refrained from balling her fists up as she walked to the buffet table. The little brat couldn't get his own punch. No, he expected Dahlia to get it. That wasn't unusual though. She also had learned from Harry once that Craig even bragged about her to his friends.

"He even told them you were his girlfriend." Her cousin's face had scrunched up, and Dahlia had actually thought he would throw up right then.

Dudley had even 'accidentally' tripped Craig one time for his flapping mouth. He knew he couldn't openly express his hatred for the geek, with his mother's insistence on being on good terms with the Morgan family.

"Dahlia, your guest is waiting for you." Mum came up behind her and quietly sneered sweetly. "He's awfully thirsty."

"Yes, Mummy." Dahlia said, taking the cup and a piece of cake to Craig. "Here." Dahlia held out his treats.

"Thank you." Craig took the punch to sip. "I am lactose intolerant." He announced, eyeing the cake in her hands.

"Oh?" Dahlia asked innocently. "I am so terribly sorry! Must have slipped my mind."

Dudley smirked, knowing his sister's 'innocent' tone all too well. "I'll take it, Lia." Dudley offered.

"You eat that cake and you'll put the pounds back on." Craig warned him.

"I wasn't going to eat it." Dudley grumbled and he made way to put it into the kitchen.

"Never thought I would see him lose weight." Craig said to Dahlia. "I wonder if he is taking some kind of medication. He's too lazy to do any workouts."

"He has a trainer now." Dahlia informed. "Dudley lifts weights and everything. He's going to be on his school's Rugby team by next term." She said proudly.

He snorted. "That'll be the day."

"He will." Dahlia insisted.

"He'll not be small enough. Wouldn't be able to keep up with the other players."

"Have you forgotten that he creamed you like butter in school?" She asked. "Or were you just that afraid of him?"

Craig suddenly looked uncomfortable. "He did have a way with his fists."

Dahlia stepped up closer to the boy. How she wanted to put him in his place, but she had to act like a lady right now. She gave him a toothy smile, showing her perfectly shaped white teeth. "How about you show me how much of a good young gentleman you are, and escort me to the dinner table?"

He returned the smile and offered his arm for her to take, and did as she requested. He even pushed her chair in after she had seated.

After the party guests had left, Dahlia helped her mother clean up. "I have no idea what that boy sees in you." Mum said.

"My charm." Dahlia answered with a sigh.

"You probably set some spell on him."

_Oh, yes, that's exactly what I did! I forced him to order me around like an underpaid servant and then to insult my brother!_

"That spell is a very complicated spell, Mum, and besides that, it's illegal and would get my wand broken." _But you would know that if you paid any attention at all._ "Craig liked me before you knew I was a witch, you can't deny that. I did as you wanted. I was nice to him. He's still a stuck up, rich snobby boy that I despise."

"Mrs. Morgan invited me over for their New Year's Celebration!" Mum said happily, apparently ignoring everything Dahlia had said.

"No need to thank me, Mummy." Dahlia mumbled before retiring up to her room.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22-**

Christmas morning finally came. Dudley's loud thumping footsteps from his running passed Dahlia's room made her laugh. He had finally woken up at 5:30.

She had been up for the past thirty minutes getting herself ready for the day. While her mother often wanted her in red fancy dresses with white tights and black shoes, but today, Dahlia had decided on a green and white dress to be different from the normal. Christmas was special, after all. After the usual one hundred brush strokes of her hair, she evenly distributed it in half and braided her hair into the perfect braids, tying them with white and green speckled ribbons.

She smiled at her reflection in the mirror. Her red hair and bright green eyes were perfect for the holiday. The green and white outfit added a different touch that she loved. She looked like the angel that the world expected her to be.

"Lia!" Her brother shouted up to her from the foot of the stairs. "Hurry up! We have lots of gifts to open!"

With one last wardrobe check, she hurried down to open her gifts.

"You look lovely, Pumpkin!" Dad said when he had seen her. He and Dudley still in their sleepwear.

Mum was dressed in a solid green dress. Her blond hair tied back with a red tie. She said nothing, even though Dahlia could tell she was disappointed that her little angelic daughter wasn't in her choice of colours.

"Thanks, Daddy." Dahlia said to her father, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Merry Christmas!"

"You too!"

For the next hour, the family opened their gifts. Dudley got a lot of what he had requested; mostly gear to workout with, like dumbbells. He even got new clothes now that he was three sizes smaller. Dahlia hadn't really request for anything, she was given a snow globe with a young girl building a snowman. She had also gotten a silver necklace with a tiny turtle dove charm. She liked this a lot. Dahlia had given Mum a set of new oven mitts, and she had gotten her Dad a personalized case for his 'pen'. Dahlia had also gotten Dudley something he'd like.

"Chocolate?" He chucked after he unwrapped the box.

Dahlia grinned. "Open it up."

The frog jumped out of the box and hopped around the room. Mum shrieked unhappily, tucking her legs up onto the sofa, but Dudley was ecstatic. "Wicked!" He said, trying to catch it, he finally did and bit its head off. "Mmm, that's the best chocolate I have ever tasted!"

"Dudders, that's probably been poisoned!"

"It hasn't, Mum." Dahlia said rolling her eyes, and showing Dudley his new magical trading card.

"It's really mine?" He asked.

"Yep. This is a mermaid named Xavierana. When she was alive, she had saved a ship full of wizards from a terrible storm. Helped them all to shore. Mermaids are not usually so friendly, especially to men. So she was one of a kind."

"Wow... Thanks."

"Harry's friend would trade his soul for that card, by the way. He's missing it. It's a very rare one."

Dudley put it in his wallet. "It's the best gift." He told Dahlia. "Thanks." And he hugged her. "Think you could get me a deck of them fairy cards?" He whispered.

Dahlia laughed. "Maybe next year!"

"Worth a shot." He grinned.

There was a tap at the window then and the family looked to see Hedwig hovering on the outside of the living room window with a package, a small tiny black owl accompanied her.

"Hedgie!" Dudley bolted across the room to open the window.

"No! He will not come into my house!" Mum stood from the sofa.

"Hedwig is a she, Mum." Dudley corrected her and untied the package that the owl had brought.

"Hold on, Dud." Dahlia said approaching her brother. "This is a special package. I can tell by this tag." Dahlia pointed to the purple round tag on the package that Hedwig had brought. She knew from the abundance of owl deliveries at Hogwarts that this was a magical package. "It needs a witch's touch." She informed him, and pinched the thin piece of cardboard. It lit up, quickly flashed a rainbow of colors, before it disappeared with a faint pop. The package then began to enlarge.

"Set it down, and step back." Dahlia instructed Dudley, who obeyed. Mum was absolutely in hysterics, but everyone else watched with interest. The package was about the size of Dahlia before it stopped growing.

"Okay, Dudley, let's open it now." Dahlia said, excited to see what Harry had gotten them.

Together they ripped it apart and found many wizard toys and other trinkets.

"Wizards Chess?" He asked, holding up a Gryffindor themed set.

"Holy wow, Dudley! This is... expensive!" She said, opening the box to reveal the pieces of that were related to Gryffindor. This gave Dahlia an idea. It would be against the rules, but it was only a harmless charm, not enough to get her into trouble with, but it might be what her mother needed.

With the queen tucked inside her hand she charmed the piece to look her Aunt Lily, and using another charm, she bewitched it to say 'Merry Christmas!' followed by a laugh.

"Let me see that!" Mum demanded hoarsely, making her way to them. Her face a pale white.

Dahlia handed Mum the piece that looked like Lily Potter, who Dahlia had a near identical resemblance to.

"She's the Queen." Dudley informed Mum, after looking at a paper with a guide that listed the people and their positions.

"Hey, this gift wasn't from Harry, Dahlia." Dudley said, having had found a letter amongst the pile of things. "The chess set is from a kid named, Draco. Who's Draco?"

Dahlia was curious now and took the letter from her brother.

_Dear Lia,_   
_I sent both you and Harry one of these. They are a special limited edition Gryffindor Chess Set. I hired someone to make a theme for every house and I plan on selling them when I return to school. I'll probably make buckets of Galleons with these!_

_Thanks for everything! I hope you have a Merry Christmas!_   
_-Draco Malfoy_

"Wow..." Suddenly the chess set was more special. "This is..." there were no words to express on how happy and surprised she was.

"Who's Draco?" Dad repeated Dudley's question.

Dahlia giggled at Dad's sudden protective nature. "He's Harry's friend. He helped..." she eyed her mother, who was engrossed with the chess piece. "Harry... during that time on Halloween."

Dad nodded. "He must be a charming young man."

"Oh, you have _no_ idea, Daddy." She grinned.

"Blimey!" Dudley gasped. "This owl...!" He had gone speechless, his mouth open a mile wide.

"What's wrong?" Dahlia asked softly.

Dudley couldn't speak, he merely handed Dahlia a yellow piece of parchment, his eyes heavily on the little black owl.

_Merry Christmas, Dud! It's your very own owl! We'll take care of it at Hogwarts for you while you're at school. Let me know what you name him!_

_\- Harry_

"He did say his gift would make up for his absence." Dahlia told the still gaping Dudley.

"He got him an owl?!" Mum shrieked.

"He's trained and everything." Dahlia said proudly, stroking the shiny ebony feathers.

"I will not have an owl in my house!"

"But Harry has one!" Dudley found his voice. "That's not fair, Mum! All the kids at my school think Harry has the best trained animal, and I want one too!"

Mum bit her lip, a worried look on her face. "What will the neighbors think?"

"Like Dudley's friends at school, they might think it's brilliant that he has a trained owl who can do tricks." Dahlia pointed out. "Owls are not only animals that wizards own. Some Muggles do too."

Dudley nodded eagerly, with hopeful lit up eyes, pleading Mum to allow him to keep it.

"Might even impress the Morgan boy." Dad told Mum craftily.

"Do you think so?" Mum asked.

They all nodded.

Mum sighed. "Okay, but you're cleaning up after it, and it goes to that bloody school with your sister!"

"Thanks Mum!" Dudley hugged Mum excitedly before turning his attention to his new pet. "What should I name him?" He asked Dahlia.

"He's yours." Dahlia told him. "You should name him."

Dudley thought a bit. "How about 'Ciard'?"

"I like it." Dahlia said. "Like the Ciardubhan in your game?"

Dudley nodded.

"It's unique." She complimented.

They spent the rest of the day enjoying the holiday. Dad played chess with them, and Mum even did too, intrigued by a certain chess piece. The whole family wondered how the chess set maker had gotten it to do that, Dahlia playing along.

Later, as they were sitting down writing thank you notes, a third owl came by that day, tapping at the kitchen window. "Another one?" Dudley asked, opening the window for it to swoop in and land on the table, next to Dahlia.

"Hey, you." Dahlia spoke softly. "Who sent you?" She asked it, giving the bird a cracker with cheese that she had been nibbling on, before taking the rolled note from it.

_Miss Dursley,_   
_Your request has been made. We are even now. Thanks again for sharing your discoveries with me._

_Please keep Nardoc away from your parents while he makes his rest._

_Happy Christmas from Professor Severus Snape_

"Heh." She mused with a smile. "I am probably the only student that got a letter from this professor." She told her brother. "He's the one that hexed you all when he came by to assist me with getting my school supplies."

Dudley shuddered. "Oh, I remember alright."

"He's softer than he would like everyone to think."

"You think everyone is nice." Dudley muttered as he wrote his letter.

"Ah, but I know he's different." She said, petting the wizard's owl that he had entrusted her with, a wide smile on her face.

* _/_ *

"Look at him go!" Minerva's eyes were wide with excitement. "You have a lot to worry about now, Severus!"

They were outside watching Harry and the Weasley boys racing each other on brooms.

"Be nice to see the Cup in a different set of hands this year." Madam Hooch said with her eyes closely on the first year boys.

"Everyone always makes exceptions for a Potter, don't they?" Severus grumbled, eyes narrowed at the Potter boy who was enjoying his new broom immensely.

"After what he's done for us, why not?" Minerva asked.

"And what he will do for us, Severus." Albus said, coming up behind him. "He is a magnificent flyer, isn't he?"

"Just because he can fly, does not mean he can seek." Severus said, smirking. "His father was a Chaser, who was as blind as a bloody bat."

"We'll just have to see then, Severus." Minerva told him, not at all worried by his taunting. "Who gave him the broom anyway? When I said I would allow him one, I had planned on getting him one before his first game in February."

"You didn't get it for him?" Albus asked innocently, a twinkle in his eyes.

Minerva tilted her head. "So you did it?" She asked him.

Albus chuckled. "I believe the tag said the gift was from Father Christmas."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23-**

The rest of the holiday break went smoothly. Mum had softened up quite a bit, giving Dahlia the idea that the memory of Aunt Lily may had been what she needed; hearing the kind, sweet voice of the chess piece that was a replica of the beloved heroin.

"Did you want to keep the chess piece here with you?" Dahlia asked her mother the night before she was to return to Hogwarts. Mum was curled up in an armchair, cradling the chess piece in her hands.

Mum stiffened when she heard Dahlia's voice, pretending for a moment that she wasn't effected by her being caught reminiscing the days of her childhood. She sighed. "It's your gift." She said quietly, holding out the queen to Dahlia.

"I am sure I can find a replacement." Dahlia said, curling her mother's fingers around the item that Mum deemed so precious. "You should have it." Dahlia said with a teary smile.

"Thank you..." Mum whispered, her voice lost.

Dahlia had needn't to ask Mum questions. She knew what had gone on between Aunt Lily and her. She knew her mother had been jealous of her sister and often felt left out once Aunt Lily had starting making new friends. She had to thank the stars that Dudley wasn't the same way, but Dahlia had also been able to patch that up before it happened, having had the knowledge to prevent that from even occurring.

Knowledge was so very powerful. More so than wandless magic.

While Jude made her realize how overly special her wandless spells were, something she didn't know of until recently, she'd be in more danger if anyone knew what she was doing and how she could do it.

Wandless magic could not equate to her knowledge.

* _/_ *

Dahlia said her sad goodbyes, crying in the arms of her mother both happy that Mum was finally taking the moment to come to terms with having a freak for a daughter, and sad that she had to leave her family once again.

"Ah, cheer up, Lia." Dudley said, when it was his turn to hug her. "Summer's only six months away!" He displayed a smile for her benefit, but Dahlia could tell he was sad too. "Take care of Ciard for me." He gave his companion his sixth treat that day.

"And he'll have no goodies for weeks if you keep doing that!" She scolded him with a laugh. "He'll be sick, and locked up in Hagrid's hut!"

"Naw, he's just like his pal, we can eat loads of junk without getting sick, can't we?" He asked Ciard who stretched out his feathers, only taking up a quarter of his cage, being how he was still just a baby. "I certainly can't wait for his first deliverance of your letter."

"I'll make sure I write a letter tonight and send it off tomorrow morning." She promised him.

"Thanks!"

Now it was time for Dahlia to enter Platform Nine and Three Quarters. She waved one last time before pushing her trolley into the pillar.

"Oi! Miss Dursley!" Dahlia looked up to see Draco waving her over, he stood next his father.

"Hey, thanks for the gift." She said to Draco once she had approached. "It was the best one I have ever received."

"It was nothing." Draco shrugged it off. "This is Harry's cousin, Father." Draco introduced. "Miss Dursley."

The man tilted his head in acknowledgement.

Dahlia was surprised to see no sneer coming from Mr. Malfoy. She gave him a smile. "It's nice to meet you, sir."

"I was about to help Draco with his trunk, would you like some assistance also?" Mr. Malfoy asked.

Dahlia hid her surprised look and gave a nod. "Please, if you would?"

With his wand, he sent both Draco's and Dahlia's trunks into the train.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Malfoy." Dahlia said.

"Not at all. Have a good trip, son."

"Thanks, Father." Draco gave a slight wave before getting onto The Hogwarts Express.

"Okay, what happened?" Dahlia asked Draco as soon as they sat down. "I thought he doesn't like muggleborns?"

Draco laughed. "He'll have to put up with you. I told him so. Harry and I are friends, and he likes that, but I also told him that it was impossible to be friends with Harry Potter if I wasn't decent to you." He gave a slight shrug. "You're not the only one that can talk their way out of a pig pen and come out smelling like a..." he paused for a moment, meeting Dahlia's eyes. "Have your eyes always been so green?"

"Of course they have!" Dahlia rolled her eyes. "Eyes don't change color."

"Some people's do actually. Jude's does." He shuddered. "If her eyes weren't so frightening they would be amazing."

Dahlia concealed a grin. "Where are your friends?" She asked, changing the subject.

"They are not as prompt as I am, but they should be here shortly." He told her. "And Granger?"

"She'll seek me out." Dahlia said. And, as if on cue, Hermione appeared right then.

"Decided we're not rubbish after all?" She asked, scowling at the blond boy, speaking about his brush off during their departure of Hogwarts.

"I have come to terms with your status."

"Just over the holiday?" Hermione asked doubtfully.

"Sure. Now that I am at ease knowing my father's not going to curse me to death. I had a pleasant talk with him. "

"What about Vincent and Gregory?" Dahlia asked.

"Oh, they'll practically do anything I say. Sheep they are. Much like their fathers."

"I guess you were right after all." Hermione said to Dahlia.

"About?" Draco asked curiously.

"That your opinion on muggleborns could change." Dahlia said.

Draco scoffed. "My opinion on muggleborns hasn't changed! Most of them are about as useless as squibs." He stopped when he seen Hermione glaring at him and sighed. "Neither of you are not like the others though."

"You know, some people say that muggleborns are descendants of witches and wizards, who married muggles or squibs. It could be that we have more wizard blood in us than you think." Dahlia told Draco.

Draco shrugged. "It would make sense, given how incompetent most muggleborns are. I highly doubt a pureblooded muggle is smart enough to steal our magic like some people like to say anyway. Not to mention, I would like to know how that is even possible. Do they harvest and drink our blood or something?" His lips formed a grin at his joke.

"And if it were even possible to steal magic, the wizards and witches would already know how to do it, and give magic to the squibs." Dahlia said.

"I have read something about that actually." Hermione said in thought. "In a book. There are researchers and scientists trying to come up with a way to create magic and give it to the squibs. It's called 'The Search for the Squib's Magic'."

"Don't count on that discovery." Dahlia told Hermione.

Draco's friends joined them then and the train took them all back to Hogwarts, where Harry and Ron were awaiting eagerly for them all. They all talked for hours, sharing their exciting holiday stories with each other.

Harry allowed his friends a turn on his new broom, and everyone wondered who had given it to him. While he was busy with his friends, Dahlia charmed Harry's chess pieces like she had down with her own. She even made one of the knights into his father.

"Merry Christmas, Harry." She whispered.

* _/_ *

In the common room the next night, Ron and Harry were each enjoying one of their last chocolate frogs when Harry gasped out, waving a card up in excitement.

"What? Did you get Xavierana?!" Ron asked, snatching it from him. "Dumbledore!" He shrieked, tossing it back at Harry. "Have you gone mad?"

"Nicholas Flamel!" Harry said, picking the card up from the ground. "I told you that I remember reading his name!" The four of them grouped around Harry as he read the back of Dumbledore's card aloud.

"I'll be right back!" Hermione said, dashing up to the girls' dormitory. She returned quickly with a book and after reading an exert from it, they soon decided that what the dog was guarding must be the Sorcerer's Stone.

Dahlia suddenly had a nagging feeling in her, making her think that she had heard of the Sorcerer's Stone before. Something in the back of her mind told her that they couldn't let whoever that was after it steal the item.

But who was trying to steal it?

* _/_ *

On Harry's first game as the Gryffindor's seeker, the whole house was nervous. Not because they were going up against Hufflepuff (who rarely won a match), but because Professor Snape would referee. Even Dahlia couldn't deny that he hated the Gryffindor house with a passion.

It didn't go too bad though, the Head of Slytherin had only awarded three penalties (two which Dahlia could agree with, since the Weasley twins favoured Professor Snape as much as he did them) before Harry caught the Snitch, making the Gryffindors go wild.

"You all just can't make it easy for us, can you?" Draco asked, as he complimentary clapped with them. "Well, I guess, if I have to compete with a house, you're the ones to do it with." He winked at Dahlia.

"Wouldn't it piss you off if the Hufflepuffs won the Cup?" She asked him.

Draco snickered. "Like that would ever happen."

Later, Harry didn't show up for dinner until twenty minutes after it had started.

"Where've you been?!" Dahlia asked as Ron slapped Harry on the shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. "Excellent seeking, Harry! You're a pro!"

"Shh!" Harry said breathlessly. "Come on!" He gestured to them and Dahlia, Hermione, and Ron followed him to an empty room. "I followed Snape into the Forbidden Forest." He finally said when they were closed up.

"You what?!" Both Hermione and Dahlia shrieked, making Harry look guilty for a moment.

"Do you realize the dangerous creatures that roam in there?!" Dahlia hissed.

"He was meeting Quirrell." Dahlia's question was ignored as Harry continued. "And confronted him about the Sorcerer's Stone... Snape accused him of some sort of hocus pocus."

"What does that mean? The man can barely cast a jelly legs jinx!" Ron said.

"Unless he's... faking it?" Harry suggested, uncertainly.

"Why would he fake it? The man's a useless wimp."

"Lot's of people pretend to do things and act differently than who they really are." Harry said, looking pointedly at Dahlia.

Dahlia nodded. "He's right. Professor Quirrell could be pretending to be someone he's not just to get the Sorcerer's Stone. It's a big deal, after all."

"It could still be Snape though." Ron insisted.

Hermione shook her head. "Hagrid trusts him too much. And all the other teachers have been here for years. Quirrell's the newest one. It would seem more likely that he took this job simply to gain access to the Sorcerer's Stone."

The following two months they all kept tabs on Professor Quirrell, who appeared to be getting sicker and sicker everyday, and Professor Snape, who was getting more impatient with everyone, if that was even possible. The Gryffindors noticed he was showing up more often, stalking them in the corridors. The first years soon decided it was safer to keep their secret chatter limited to unused classrooms.

Hermione insisted that they study more, since exams would be coming up in a few weeks and they all needed to pass in order to go onto the next year. Dahlia and Hermione exchanged study tips, while helping Harry and Ron with their studying, although, Harry didn't really need anything but a push. He was scoring in the nineties in all his classes, even with his focus on other things.

"Harry, Professor Snape isn't going to accept this hand writing." Dahlia told him gently, after looking over his work. "It's a great essay, but you rushed too fast, and he'll know it."

"Speaking from someone who is only scoring a seventy two." Ron grumbled, hovered over his own essay.

"Only because I get physically sick from the task." Dahlia defended herself.

"Yes, Lia would score one hundred if she wouldn't get sick." Hermione said. "More than you can say. Not to mention, the only reason you are scoring as high as you have been is because Dahlia is your partner half of the time. I am surprised Professor Snape hasn't taken points from you because of it."

The tips of Ron's ears turned red.

"Maybe he has." Dahlia said. "If Ron would ask him, he could find out."

"I ain't asking Snape nothing!" Ron shared the same hatred of the Potions Master that his brothers did.

A week later, Dahlia, Draco, Gregory, and Vincent were in a room, waiting on the others to show up for their Defense practice.

"Where do you suppose they are?" Draco asked Dahlia.

Dahlia sighed. "With those three, who knows."

"Let's practice without them. Maybe they'll show up shortly." He said taking out his wand, the others following suit.

"Disarming?" Dahlia asked, pointing her wand at him.

"No, we need to practice the first year spells for the upcoming exams." Draco reminded her. "Ladies first." He said through a mock of a cough.

"Very funny." She muttered before casting the Verdimillious charm. They took turns attacking and counter attacking before they heard the door click. The four quickly put their wands away, and scrambled to a nearby table, Dahlia effortlessly conjured up a deck of cards with her hand, unnoticed by the others in their panic.

"You big cheat!" She accused Draco as Professor Snape stepped in.

"What?! I didn't cheat!" Draco denied it, going along with Dahlia. "You're the cheater! I saw you peek at my cards!"

"How can I peek at them when I am sitting way over here?!"

A clearing of a throat made the first years look up at the professor. "Oh, hello, Professor." Dahlia greeted him with a smile.

"Where are the others?" He asked lifting a brow.

"The others?" Draco asked innocently.

"Don't play me a fool!" Professor Snape growled. "Granger, Weasley, and Potter- the other half of your little group."

"Studying, last I knew, sir." Dahlia quickly answered. "In the library."

"And you without them?" Professor Snape inquired with a doubtful tone to his voice.

Dahlia lifted a shoulder. "We don't spend every moment with each other, sir."

The professor nodded very slowly. "Mmhm." He said before exiting the room.

Draco heaved out a sigh of relief. "He's going to end up busting us eventually. I just know it!"


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24-**

"He has a dragon?!" Dahlia whispered, once Harry explained why he didn't show up for their Defense study.

"Bloody hell!" Draco said. "If Hagrid gets caught he'll be arrested!"

"And he's not listening to us neither. He's completely nutty over that thing!" Ron informed them. "He's going to get sent to Azkaban, I just know it!"

"We'll have to help him." Harry said.

"No! You can't!" Dahlia said. "You'll get expelled!"

"Doesn't your brother deal with dragons?" Draco asked Ron.

"Yeah..."

"Yes! We can send Norbert off with Charlie who can release him out into the wild!" Harry said.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione decided to help care for Norbert while they waited for Charlie's reply. Dahlia and Draco took more notes in classes than usual, since the other three were so busy caring for the baby dragon that they had little time to pay attention.

"You know, you're not so bad when Harry's not around." Draco commented as they worked together on their Potions homework. They were alone, since Gregory and Vincent were in the infirmary due to a mishap in charms class earlier that morning.

"And you aren't so bad when he _is_ around." She told him.

"You still make an awful witch though." He said, smirking.

"Give me some time, would you?" She said. "You'll be surprised one day."

"I suppose by the time you're Dumbledore's age, you might just be good enough to call yourself a real witch."

She bit her tongue, knowing the boy was just teasing her. Something stirred inside her though, she wanted to prove to him that she was a decent witch. That she was better than anyone of their year. Even better than Hermione.

She took out her wand and set it onto the table. She was finally going to do it. Without looking, without even uttering a word, she told his eyebrows to turn pink, and let out a giggle.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing." She sang out, pretending to be focused on her work.

"Not sure I like that tone." Draco said cautiously. "Are you planning to poison my drink or something?" He asked, eyeing the goblet of water.

"No, your drink is fine."

"Then what is it?"

Dahlia lifted her wand and glanced at his eyebrows, bursting out in laughter at the once near white hairs that were now fuchsia.

"What is it?" He insisted.

She stood up, pulling at the arm of his robes to get him to stand. "Turn around." She told him.

Draco carefully did, glancing behind his back at her a couple times. Dahlia set her wand on the table and conjured up a mirror then picked her wand back up. "Here." She held it out to him.

His mouth dropped open when he seen it. "Change it back!" he shrieked.

"But it's pretty!" She argued. "It matches your lips so well."

He pointed his wand to her. "Change it back!"

"Close your eyes."

"Why?" He demanded.

"Otherwise I can't do it!"

He sighed. "That makes no sense, you know." He grumbled, giving in.

Dahlia studied his eyebrows, noticing how perfectly shaped they were, never having had noticed this before. She found herself curiously running her thumb along one of them, the pink hairs turning back into blonde as her touch left him.

His eyes flew open. "Why are you-" he paused, catching her staring at him, his eyebrows narrowing.

She smiled before telling the other eyebrow to change back with her mind. "Sorry." She whispered. "They are perfectly trimmed. I never noticed that until now."

Draco snorted. "It's not like I spend an hour in front of the mirror everyday!" He avoided her eyes.

"You are such a horrible liar." She giggled.

"I do just fine!" He said indignantly, crossing his arms. "When you're not around anyway!"

"Do I really effect you that much?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"How can you not?! All you have to do is walk into the room with as pretty as you are-" his mouth instantly clamped shut, his pale cheeks flushing red. Suddenly, it appeared that he had something else to do. He snatched up his books, and hurried out.

"Wait!" She called after him, but he didn't stop.

Draco didn't speak to Dahlia for a few days after that, and pretended that she didn't exist. She knew why. She wasn't some clueless little girl. He was crushing on her, and whenever she thought about it, she couldn't help grinning to herself, because she was starting to think she may just have similar feelings toward him.

This could work. It may make her task of uniting the two rivals together much more easier.

* _/_ *

"This can't go on for much longer." Dahlia warned Harry two weeks later, speaking about Hagrid's dragon. "With Professor Snape sneaking around us, you're just bound to get caught!"

"And this bite is awful. I can't heal it." Draco told Ron after an inspection. "You'll have to go see Madam Pomfrey before the poison takes your hand."

"Charlie will be here tonight." Harry said. "Then this will all be over with."

"Fine, but Hermione and I will take Norbert up to the tower. You don't need to get caught. You have a quidditch game coming up, and I can see Professor McGonagall suspending you from it."

"You know, that's not such a terrible thing." Draco grinned. He seemed to have gotten over his slip, returning back to his usual cocky self.

"Oh, hush up!" Dahlia told him.

Once Norbert was off on his way to his new home, and the girls were safety inside the common room, they collapsed onto the sofa together with Harry, breathing heavy from their split moment of being caught by Filch.

"We could have set the Gryffindors in third place if we had gotten caught." Hermione said, her hand to her chest.

"I hope we never have to do anything like that again!" Dahlia handed Harry his invisible cloak. "That thing's pretty neat." She told him.

As the days got nearer to their exams, they all had less free time because of the amount of studying they had to do.

"How many Gargoyles are in Hogwarts again?" Vincent asked during one of their study sessions.

"Sixty-seven." Hermione, Draco, Harry, and Dahlia all said in unison.

"Fifteen of them have been charmed to talk." Ron added.

"The forth floor has the most in all of Hogwarts." Harry said. "Nineteen of them."

"I'd say we're all just about ready for the exams." Dahlia said happily.

Finally, the day of exams came.

"I think I did okay." Dahlia announced as they grouped up outside of the Potions dungeon. "There aren't any disgusting ingredients in a Forgetfullness potion. That should give a boost to my grade." She said proudly.

"I think I did okay too." Harry said.

"I fouled up at the last part." Ron said glumly. "Snape breathed down my back and I stirred the wrong way."

Now that their exams were completed, they all had a lot of free time on their hands, and could actually enjoy being young again. The Gryffindors sat outside by the lake, watching Ron's brothers and their friend play with the giant squid that inhabited the lake.

Harry still seemed anxious though, and Dahlia asked what was wrong. Her cousin couldn't exactly explain his feeling to her, only that his forehead was starting to bother him. He took it as a sign that something was about to happen.

"Something bad?" Dahlia asked.

Harry only nodded.

Hermonie insisted that he was only worrying over the exams, and Ron suggested that he go see Madam Pomfrey, but Harry shook his head, saying that he didn't think she could fix this.

Dahlia frowned at her cousin's worrying face.

He suddenly stood up, his face gone flush.

"What's wrong?" his friends asked.

"I should have realized before!" He started running. "Come on!" He called to them. "We have to go see Hagrid!"

Harry drilled Hargid with questions about Norbert the dragon and the night Hagrid had won the dragon egg in a card game. And as soon as Hagrid slipped up on how to get passed Fluffy, the four Gryffindors ran off.

"Was the stranger Quirrell then?" Ron asked Harry, trying to catch up to him.

"I think so! We must tell Dumbledore! Quirrell could have the stone already!"

"Well, where's his office?" Ron asked Harry as if he would know.

"Professor McGonagall!" Dahlia waved at the approaching witch.

"Yes?" Her beady eyes scanned the group. "What is wrong with you?" She asked noticing their heavy panting.

"We need to speak to Professor Dumbledore!" Harry said urgently.

"Well, he has just left on some important business for the Ministry. Busy man, he is. Whatever you meant to say to him, can be said to me. I am the deputy, after all."

"We think someone's stolen the Sorcerer's Stone."

The witch dropped the books that she had been holding in her arms, not expecting to hear Harry say that. "How do you-"

"Never mind that, please Professor, it's important!" Harry insisted.

"I do not know how you would even know about that-" she huffed, looking at them with disapproval. "-but I assure you, it's well protected."

"But-"

"Outside you go, and enjoy the sunshine." She ordered, picking up her fallen books, Dahlia bent down to help her. "Thank you, dear. Now, I mean it," she told the group sternly. "The Sorcerer's Stone is not to concern yourself with."

They watched the Professor walk off down the corridor.

"What do we do now?" Ron asked.

"We go after Quirrell." Harry said, hurrying off.

"Harry, wait!" Dahlia called after them, but it was too late, none of the others had seen Professor Snape stalking up the corridor, him catching site of their scurrying. She decided to stay behind, so he wouldn't follow them. Dahlia flashed him a smile. "Hello, Professor." She greeted when he approached.

"What are they up to?" Professor Snape asked, immediately suspicious.

"Well, Ron's rat got loose." Dahlia said quickly. "And he's being chased by Mrs. Norris."

His eyebrows quirked up. "Is that so?" He asked smoothly. He then smirked. "You are quick minded, Miss Dursley, I'll give you that. I am sure the companion's charm hasn't worn off all of a sudden, though. Fifteen points from Gryffindor for lying to me." He said. "And it'll be fifty if you ever lie to me again." He then stalked off to the staffroom.

Dahlia smacked her forehead. "Idiot!"

She went off to find the others.

Dahlia never did find Harry, Ron, or Hermione, but, who she did find in her two hours of searching, was Professor Quirrell. He muttered and whimpered as he walked and appeared to be in pain or in fear. She followed him throughout the rest of the night, tailing him even past dinner, forgetting about the time before he finally went to the third floor, conjuring up a harp and opening up the door that Fluffy was behind.

When he was fully inside, Dahlia scampered off to find someone to alert.

"Oh, my my. Out of bed you are." Peeves voice rang out heavily. "I should let Filch know."

"I actually am looking for a Professor." Dahlia told him.

"You are looking to get into trouble?" Peeves asked doubtfully.

"Professor Quirrell is after the Sorcerer's Stone! He's just gotten passed Fluffy now!"

Peeves eyes widened. "I knew it!" He said. "They wouldn't believe me though! Them ghosts kept on about it being completely safe, and only two people knew how to make that beast fall into slumber!"

"Please help me find someone, we must make sure the stone is not stolen!"

Peeves nodded. "I know who just to tell." He said before flying off.

Dahlia hurried behind him. "Who?"

"Snape."

* _/_ *

"What are you doing out of bed?" Professor Snape hissed when he seen Dahlia after she had knocked on his potions dungeon door.

"Quirrell!" Was all she said to grab his attention.

"What about him?" He demanded, having his full attention.

"He got passed Fluffy!" Dahlia said out of breath. "He tricked Hagrid into telling him and now he's going to steal the Sorcerer's Stone!"

Dahlia didn't think it was possible, but Professor Snape's face paled a lighter shade. He took out his wand, performed a spell that made a hologram shaped like a deer sprint out of the tip of his wand. "Headmaster, he has done it." He said to the doe, and the silvery animation pranced off down the corridor in a hurry.

"Go to the Slytherin's common room immediately." He ordered Dahlia. "Tap the third brick from the wall at the end of this corridor. The password is Like a Snake." He said quicker than Dahlia thought he ever could, since he usually talked long and slow. "Find any one of the prefects there and tell them we have a code Nerkon. They will know what to do." Professor Snape then billowed off in a haste.

Dahlia did as he said, running the opposite direction of him. She stepped into the dark common room, and many of the Slytherins stood upon her entrance ready to pounce.

"What are you doing in here, Gryffie?" A boy sneered.

"Last time one of you came in here, we hexed them to Hell and back." A girl raised her wand.

"Snape sent me here. I need to speak to one of your Prefects." She said quickly, with her hands raised.

"I'm a prefect." A girl with blond hair emerged from the crowd.

"Nerkon." Dahlia burst out. "We have a code Nerkon from Professor Snape."

After that, everything happened so fast, it was a blur. Two Prefects were left behind, while the rest went out to do whatever they were supposed to do. The normal students were told to stay behind.

Dahlia spent two hours with Draco and the rest of his house as they all made up stories, trying to decipher what 'Code Nerkon' meant. The prefects that had been left there to ensure their safety kept telling them that it was nothing to worry over, but no one believed them. Dahlia kept her mouth shut, sensing that it was something that didn't need to be blabbed if there was a "code name" for it. Besides that, she was trying to make sense of her head, and trying to remember what she knew about the Sorcerer's Stone, but everything was so cloudy.

"It's about the Sorcerer's Stone, isn't it?" He whispered to her. They sat next to each other in one of the many big arm chairs that scattered around the room.

"I think... it's more than that." She said, confused with the images flashing in her mind. "Something much more... important."

"Like what?"

"I don't exactly know..." she said quietly. "I just got this terrible-"

"Harry Potter is missing!" A returning prefect announced.

"Harry!" Dahlia uprooted from the chair, everything about the Sorcerer's Stone forgotten.

"It's rumored that Hermione Granger had said that he's up in the forbidden part of the third floor trying to stop someone from getting something called the Sorcerer's Stone."

Dahlia raced to the exit before one of the prefects stopped her. "You can't go out there yet." He said firmly. "Nerkon is still in activation."

"Forget Nerkon!" She shouted, and pushed him out of the way with her power, sending the boy flying on top of a group of sixth years who were sitting on a sofa. She unlocked the exit that kept them trapped inside for their safety and started running toward third floor.

"Dursley!" Draco called behind her. "Wait up!" But there was no time to wait. She had this awful feeling Harry was in danger.

When Dahlia got to the room that concealed Fluffy, she found it open, and Fluffy was no longer there. She saw a gap in the flooring, and knew that that must have been the opening of the trapdoor Hermione had spoken about last year.

Dahlia peered down inside it seeing a floor about two stories down.

"Lia!" Draco gasped, panting in sync with her, also looking down the hole.

"I need to get down there!" She told him between breaths.

Draco nodded. "What do you want to do?"

Dahlia looked around, thinking of a way to get down two floors without hurting herself. A moment later she conjured up a rope with her mind. "Help me tie this to the door knocker! Hurry!"

Together, the pair of them looped an end of the rope to the large metal door knocker on the door to the room they were in.

Then Dahlia sighed to clear her mind, and climbed down the rope in a haste, using her magic to help her down faster.

When she was finally down where she wanted to be, she looked up to see Draco had also been climbing down the rope, murmuring prayers as he inched down. She rolled her eyes, and snapped her fingers, cutting the rope to send him down quicker, his wails echoing as he fell. With another snap of her fingers, she froze his fall just three itches from the ground and then waved her hand to release him. The spell was similar to the one Dumbledore had casted on the Gryffindor seeker that had quit after the first game of the season.

"Merlin!" Draco gasped out in relief. "I may need a new set of trousers after this." He muttered. Dahlia hadn't heard him, she was already rushing off to the next room.

Shimmering keys littered the floor, twitching as if on the brink of death, from the fading of a spell. She had to shuffle through them to get to the door across the way sat ajar and she entered into another room with an enormous sized chess set with no chess pieces. There were another set of doors, awaiting for her entrance.

Then one last room until finally...

"Harry!" She gasped when she saw her motionless cousin, sprawled out on the ground, a group of professors surrounding him.

"Miss Dursley!" Professor McGonagall shrieked, but Dahlia didn't hear the old woman's voice, she was currently experiencing tunnel vision, and the only thought on her mind was Harry Potter. She squeezed between a pair of Professors before kneeling down to the boy's side.

"Harry...?" She whispered, frightfully, taking his hand. She felt it twitch at her touch, and noticed that he was breathing. She was so happy that she hugged him, even if he was passed out, and couldn't acknowledge it. "Thank God... Thank God..." she repeated.

* _/_ *

_Dahlia could hear a woman screaming down the hallway of a dimly lit house. "Please! Don't, please!" She cried._

_Dahlia hastily made her way to see if she could help the woman. She came upon a room to see a red haired woman shielding a baby from a monstrous looking man who had his wand pointed at her. Dahlia couldn't help shuddering at his freakish appearance._

_"Stand aside, you foolish girl, stand aside now." He hissed calmly._

_Dahlia watched from the doorway of the nursery as the wizard ordered the frantic woman to give up her infant, who she held to her chest, pleading to the dark wizard- offering her own life just to save the life of her baby's._

_Dahlia's eyes teared up. She knew she couldn't help her and was forced to watch the death of a very brave young woman. The same woman who would be declared the most innocent witch of the 20th century. Dahlia watched her fall from the killing curse, dead before she had even hit the ground._

_"You're fucking monster!" Dahlia muttered even though the wizard couldn't see nor hear her. Anger boiled inside her. Who could kill such a lovely woman?! Dahlia wanted to kill him! But she was not capable of doing it._

_The wizard chuckled lightly before setting his snake like eyes onto the baby. With purring words, he said the incantation to also kill the boy, but instead of killing him, the green spark bounced off of the baby's forehead and hit the dark wizard. He bellowed in agony before disappearing with an explosion._

_"Miss Dursley!" Dahlia heard Professor McGonagall call for her._

_"Professor?" Dahlia started looking through the torn house for her teacher. "Where are you?" She asked after several minutes of her search._

_As she was climbing over a the remains of an arm chair, a shadow swept by her, making her jump with fear, thinking it was the evil wizard returning to come for Professor McGonagall. It wasn't him though. It was someone else._

_"No...!" The shadow whispered hoarsely. "No...!" Dahlia saw a tall man sink to his knees, trembling with sorrow, bowing his head over the dead body of the woman._

"Miss Dursley!" Dahlia's body shook roughly and she was no longer in the ruined house on Godric's Hollow, but instead at Hogwarts' Infirmary. The bright sunlight made her squint her eyes, and she was completely covered in a layer of sweat, shivering from a damp chill. Her pulse pounded hard, every vein in her body violently vibrating.

She had been dreaming of a begging woman off and on for the past year. Each time, the dream and faces of the people in it becoming more vivid to her.

While Dahlia looked up at the faces of Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey who showed their relief of her coherence, she realized something at that exact moment.

She was sure that she had witnessed the murder of Lily Potter.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25-**

Dahlia was told that she had to stay in the infirmary to rest after the abundance of spells she had cast, having had exhausted herself. Some of them advanced for someone her age.

Madam Pomfrey had assured her that Harry was fine when she saw him asleep in a bed next to her. He had many visitors who gave him gifts and wishes to get better. They were never there for long though, as Madam Pomfrey shooed them out.

Some of them tried getting information from Dahlia, thinking she had been there to witness the 'battle' they called it. She got Draco and the rest of their group for a few short minutes each day, nothing much more than a greeting was usually exchanged though, with the mediwitch's strict rules.

Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall stopped by often to see how Harry was coming along, Madam Pomfrey giving them an update several times daily. Sometimes Professor Snape would come in along with one of them, and Dahlia couldn't help noticing that he would often stare at her, but he never said anything to her. He was curious about something, and Dahlia wondered why he just didn't ask her whatever he was thinking.

She felt completely confused about the dream about her aunt. The death of her Aunt Lily wasn't the only dream that she had been having of her (at least Dahlia was sure she was having more dreams of her, since they involved a red headed girl in them), but this was the one that happened most frequently. And, until recently, she hadn't given it much thought. The faces were so clear now, that there was no mistaking. The monster was Voldemort, the woman was her aunt, and the baby-

"Professor." she called out to Professor Dumbledore the day after Harry and her had been sent there to rest.

"Miss Dursley." He greeted cheerily, stepping up to her and conjuring up a chair. "I was wondering if you would ever speak out to me."

"Um..." Dahlia glanced at her sleeping cousin. "I am having this horrid feeling that it wasn't really Quirrell that wanted the Sorcerer's Stone." She said quietly to the old wizard who made himself comfortable next to her.

"Ah, that is true." He said pleasantly. "But who do you believe it was?"

Dahlia fiddled with the edge of the quilt that was covering her. "Someone who is willing to hurt Harry." She said quietly.

"Does this someone have a name?"

Dahlia nodded. "But... I think... you might know who I am speaking of." Or at least a tiny voice inside her was saying so.

"Is that who you were dreaming about?" He asked, deeply focused onto her, making her feel very uncomfortable.

She shrugged. "It's more of a gut feeling. The dreams are just giving it a picture."

Professor Dumbledore hummed a few notes to a tune, giving Dahlia the idea that he was thinking about what she had said. "If you ever wish to share your thoughts with me, Miss Dursley, I would be most willing to be a listening ear."

"Thanks..." she said. Although, she wasn't sure if she was ready to share any of her secrets just yet.

* _/_ *

"How is Potter?" Severus asked Albus as he came out of the Infirmary.

"Perfect condition, considering all that has happened. Incredibly mature boy he is."

Severus stopped himself from showing his relief that the boy was not traumatized from the recent events. He followed the older wizard down the corridor. "Did you also talk with Miss Dursley?"

"Yes." He said simply.

"And?"

"There are some things stored in her mind that I am not sure she even knows is there."

Severus was confused by this, wondering how that was even possible. "You plunged into her mind?"

"Drastic times, Severus." Albus said casually, waving aside the accusation.

"What did you see?" The Potions Master asked with heavy interest.

"It is unclear. Very foggy." Albus said mysteriously. "I am about to do some research. The school should be safe for the rest of the term. I'll use this luxurious time to make an effort to uncover the secrets that she holds."

"Like why she was screaming out the name of a woman she has never met before?" Severus asked as they stopped outside of Albus' office.

"That, and many other wonders that I have. I ask that you do not look into her mind, Severus. There are many traps in there. It's not at all hard to get lost inside her head. She has some powerful magic protecting her from an invasion."

* _/_ *

Harry was also bed bound, healing from the damage Quirrell had done to and Dahlia spent some of this time studying the photos of Harry's parents in the photo album that Hagrid had given him.

"Golly, we do look just like them." Harry said.

Dahlia smiled. "Yep!"

"Dumbledore said Snape and my dad hated each other." Harry said in thought. "Do you think that is why he seems to loath me; because I look so much like my dad?"

"Maybe..." Dahlia said."But just because you look like someone doesn't mean you're an exact copy of them." She told him. "From what I believe, you are more like Aunt Lily than you are your father- well, besides your flying skills." She giggled.

"I also asked Dumbledore if he knew who gave me my broom. And who charmed my chess pieces- I swear they weren't charmed when I first got them; he insisted it was Father Christmas." He rolled his eyes. "I am sure it was him."

Dahlia concealed a grin. "Yeah, probably."

That night, after Madam Pomfrey checked them over one last time to ensure their health, they made their way to the End of the Year Feast. Harry grinned widely at the Gryffindor decorated Great Hall.

"Looks like you did it, Gryffies." Draco's voice came up behind them. Dahlia could tell he was a bit down from losing the House cup, but he held out his hand to shake Harry's hand, just the same.

Harry's grin widened as he took Draco's offer. "Told ya." He said, smirking. "You put up a good fight though."

Draco scoffed. "Lost by fifty points." He grunted. "It was close."

"There's always next year, Draco." Dahlia told him.

Draco nodded, eyeing her. "How are you feeling?" He asked. "Harry?" He added quickly, looking to his friend.

"Terrific!"

"I'm fine too, by the way." Dahlia informed Draco with a giggle.

"Good to know." Draco said, brushing her off. "Well, I best get back to my house mates. Congratulations, mate." He said to Harry before walking off to sit between Vincent and Gregory.

"He's not so bad after all." Harry complimented.

"Didn't I tell you so?" Dahlia said cheekily and made her way to Hermione who had noticed them and was waving to them to join her and Ron.

The room was full of excitement until Professor McGonagall stood up to congratulate the Gryffindor house, and giving the Slytherins an honorary mention.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Hermione asked through the cheering and clapping of the crowd. Even a few Slytherins were clapping, though not as eagerly. Professor Snape wore a sore smile as he shook Professor McGonagall's hand politely. His eyes set onto Harry, before he gave a slight nod of his head.

"I think that was-"

"A congratulation." Dahlia whispered to the gaping Harry. "Perhaps even a nod of approval..."

"Think next year will be easier for me?" He asked.

Dahlia snorted in laughter. "He's still Professor Snape, and you're still a Gryffindor. Hell, he deducted points from me the other day, and I think I may fall under his list of favourite students."

"Huh?" Harry asked confused. "Why is that?"

Dahlia gave a shrug. "I don't think now is the time to tell." She said as a group of Gryffindors crowded around Harry, slapping his back, proud to have him in the house, since he won the most points through his Quidditch playing.

"We all passed!" Draco cheered when the results of the exams were announced. Him and Hermione tying for the best scores of all the first years. Both were ecstatic with their results. Harry outscored Dahlia by three points, but Dahlia was proud at her 100 point score on her Potions exam. It would definitely increase her average score.

And before they all knew it, they were getting off the Hogwarts Express to go home. They said their goodbyes to Draco, Vincent, and Gregory, who met their family at Platform Nine and Three Quarters. The other four were to teleport to King's Cross to meet their families.

Ron invited Dahlia, Hermione, and Harry to come spend some time over the summer at his place.

"Oh, look, it's him!" A girl squealed, pointing at Harry.

Ron groaned. "Ginny, my sister." He informed them.

"Ginny!" The plump Mrs. Weasley scolded. "It is rude to point, now stop that!" Dahlia wanted to remind the girl that it was also impolite to stare as that's what Ginny was doing, but she kept quiet.

Harry thanked the kind woman for his Christmas gifts.

"Harry!" Dudley called, running up to him.

"Whoa! Dud!" Harry gasped out, and Dahlia did too, for Dudley's Christmas clothes were so big now, that Dudley had to wear suspenders to keep his pants up. The two boys did a quick hug before the twins hugged.

"You must be Dudley." Ron said holding out his hand. "I'm Ron Weasley."

Dudley grinned, shaking his hand eagerly. "'Nother wizard you are? Like Harry?" Ron nodded. "Swell then! What kind of companion do you got? Harry got me an owl. It's there." He pointed to Dahlia's trolley. "Hi, Ciard." He said to the caged bird who bobbed up and down in a greeting, excited to see his buddy. "I didn't forget you, no." Dudley said taking out a cracker for the owl.

"He's pretty. I just have an old rat. Scabbers."

"Rats are good too."

"Are we ready?" Dad came up and asked.

"Are you Harry's uncle?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I am." Dad said simply. "Come, children. Your mother is waiting." He gestured to Mum who stood several feet away at a distance, closely eyeing anyone who her passed her.

Dahlia and Dudley followed the lead of their dad as Harry spoke a few last words to his friends before he finally bid his goodbyes.

* _/_ *

A knock sounded on Severus' chamber door. He sighed in annoyance, tired from the last few months of the term. He could only hope his summer would be a quiet and restful one, but Albus would never allow that to happen.

"Good evening." Albus said as Severus opened the door.

"Now what?" Severus grumbled.

"I discovered something... intriguing about Miss Dursley. I feel I should share it with you."

Severus was interested to hear this, so he opened the door wider to allow the wizard into his room, but all Albus did was shake his head. "We'll need this." He said holding up a golden trinket with a gold chain.

"Is that a -"

"It is." Albus held out his arm. "Take a hold of it, my boy." He instructed, and Severus did as he said. Albus turned the time turner back several times before allowing it to spin, and the two faded away to where ever Albus was sending them to.

"Why are we here?" Severus asked. They were both concealed behind a spell that Albus had cast onto them making them to blend into the night. Severus looked up at the well kept house that Potter lived in.

"This is just hours from the moment Voldemort attacked." Albus told him, his voice just above a whisper. "In ten seconds, the Dursleys will arrive home."

Severus felt his heart clench. He knew he couldn't do anything to help Lily, but the mere thought of him being in the past made his hope pick up.

"To prevent you from attempting anything, I have cast a spell onto you, Severus, you can not move. I apologize, but I did not bring you here for that."

Severus sighed annoyingly. "Then why pray tell-" he stopped as headlights come upon the street and the Dursley's car pulled into their drive way. The front doors opened and two adults in their middle twenties came out; Petunia and Vernon. Petunia went and opened the back door of the car, and a baby's wail screamed out into the night.

"Duddlikins." Pentunia soothed. "You're giving Mummy a headache, what do you want, baby?" She asked the toddler, carrying him inside the house.

Once they were inside, Albus pointed to the car with his wand, lighting up the inside of it. "Notice anything strange?"

After a moment, Severus replied, "One... child seat..."

Albus nodded. "If the Dursleys had twins, there should be a second, right?" He then levitated them up to the windows, casting the curtains on the other side of the glass away so they could see into the home. "Only one crib..." he told Severus. "This is the only nursery in the home."

"I don't understand..." Severus said. "Was the Dursley girl adopted then?"

Albus levitated them back to the ground, and took out the time turner, turning it three times forward. "There's Minerva, Hagrid, and I." He pointed to the group that suddenly appeared of out no where due to a fast forward in time. "And that's Harry in my arms."

The two wizards waited and watched the group of wizards and witch say their goodbyes to the baby before they left. Several moments later, there was a quiet thud, and three different people came tumbling down onto the lawn from the sky. They were all dressed in bright vibrant colored abnormal looking robes that stopped at their knees, with long matching stockings. A bag resting on each of their backs. Their hair was incredibly short and standing straight up.

"What in great heavens?" Severus gasped quietly.

"Listen." Albus told him.

A man with purple hair, who looked to be in his thirties and was taller than the other two people he was with, clicked a Putter-Outter that looked just like Ablus' and all the street lights flickered out.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Teditrian?" A short, plump man asked. He also appeared to be in his thirties, his hair being light blond. He then started sneezing. "What is wrong with the air here?!" He demanded after taking a potion to silence his nuisance.

The third person of the group, a woman, rolled her eyes. She was older than the men by at least twenty years, her hair greying at the roots, and darkening into a copper red at the tips. "The air is cleaner here, Artie! Now be quiet, would you?!"

"Pay closely attention to me." The taller man said sternly. "Voldemort has just fallen here in 1981 and he will return again in the next decade. As we know, Harry Potter will succeed him, but if we could just quicken the defeat, we may just end up saving this World and Ours."

"Harry Potter." The woman whispered, gazing down at the baby, having finally noticing him.

"Wow, that's really him?" Artie asked. "He's so little and cute!"

"That is really him, yes." The taller man said with a slight nod. The three of them were silent for several moments while they stared down onto baby Harry before the metamorphugus continued, "Here's what's going to happen; We'll arrange for you to be a child of Harry's aunt. According to Mr. DocTomo, it will help her and the rest of the family come to terms quicker than before, which is going to be necessary, given the children their son ends up seeding. You will be known as their daughter, Aunt Dahl."

The woman wrinkled her nose. "I don't have to look like them, do I?"

"Your looks are just perfect for the part, considering the other person you're going to be addressing."

"Right." The woman nodded. "Severus Snape."

Severus' ears perked more at the mention of his name. What did this all have to do with him?

"Now, when I deage you, your memories and messages of guidance will be locked away until your ninth anniversary, in which some of them will unlock, but not all of them, else you have the risk of going insane. It is just too much information to find all at once. The rest will come back at the time when you will most need them. Your most important task is to unite the Gryffindors and Slytherins- you remember what they are, right?"

The woman nodded. "Two of the four groups in that wizard school. Houses, they call them."

"If you can unite Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, they will be able to shepherd the sheep into the pen, and if you can accomplish this, all will be saved."

"And th-this will en-ensure that B-blake is never born?" The woman asked, suddenly shaking in fear. "Because if he ever f-finds out-"

"If you do everything like I said; yes." The tall man interrupted her. "I promise you, if Harry Potter is victorious before the Summer of 1996, Blake will not be conceived and will cease to exist. But this can only happen if there's a union."

"I won't exist either." Dahlia said quietly in thought.

"It must be done." Artie told her.

"It must." The purple haired man echoed. "Otherwise Blake will become the ruler that he is."

Artie shuddered. "He needs to be stopped."

Dahlia nodded and heaved a sigh. "Let's get this done then." She waved her hand at the house, sending a rainbow of sparkles onto it. "They are ready for my addition." She told the two wizards and hugged them tightly. "I am going to miss you guys so much!"

"Love you." Artie said, with a cracking voice.

The tall man snapped his fingers in front of Dahlia and her green eyes glowed so bright that it was blinding. He then set his hands onto her shoulders and she began shrinking in both size and age, ending up as a twenty something pound gurgling infant.

"What do we do about Miss Dursley?" Severus asked back at Hogwarts in their appropriate year. "Or whatever her name is..."

"Obviously she's been sent here to fix something that happens in our future; her past. Something during Voldemort's return-" Severus refrained from shuddering at the name of his previous master. "-so we'll wait and see what Miss Dursley is going to do."

"We're just going to rely on an eleven year old girl to decide our future?"

"She's going to help defeat Voldemort. She either knows or is going to know things that we don't, thus, she'll be quite useful to us."

"What about this whole 'don't mess with the past and future' mumbo jumbo you're always on about?" Severus asked.

"That wizard, Teditrian, mentioned another world, and it sounds like both his and ours will be in an extreme dark time if Miss Dursley's mission fails. What is the point in stopping Voldemort if only in a few decades a new dark lord reigns?"

"I understand your point, but I am supposed to just let some young Gryffindor girl play me like an instrument?"

"From the way I see it, she has helped you in more ways then one." Albus told him with twinkling eyes. "How is your invention coming along?"

Severus gave a careless shrug. "I am still testing the final product, but it looks promising."

"To which you owe most of that to that young girl you so wish to hate."

Severus scoffed. "We're even, Dumbledore. I made sure of that."

Albus chuckled merrily. "A child's broom is just a small fraction of what you owe that girl."

"And I suppose who that broom was gifted to doesn't count?" Severus scowled.

"Not at all... considering you're part the reason that boy is orphaned." Albus tilted his head slightly to the side, giving him a pointed look.

Severus curled his lip. "I already live my life in deep regret. You do not need to hold it over my fucking head every time you want me to play as your puppet." He stood up to leave.

"I apologize, Severus." Albus said softly. "You are a good man. I just feel you need to be reminded that you should not hate the Potter boy."

The dark wizard stiffened. "He does that enough on his own, sir." He said before stalking out of the office.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26-**

_"Severus!" Lily called for his attention. "Severus, watch!"_

_Severus looked up from his book in time to see Lily send the dandelion seeds into the air. They danced around her, fluttering with the flow of the spring breeze. He smiled. "Do you know how many people are going to hate that you just seeded their lawns with what they consider weeds?" He asked, closing his book._

_"Oh dear." A look of alarm went onto her innocent twelve year old face. "I didn't think of that."_

_He chuckled. "That's why they made weed killer, I suppose."_

_"Are you with that no good for nothing freak again?!" Petunia asked, running up to her sister. "He's not worth your time, Lily!"_

_"Mum..." Dahlia whispered. "Don't... please..."_

_"He never showers, and look!" She pointed. "The cuffs of his trousers don't even cover his ankles!"_

_"That doesn't matter, Tuney!" Lily said. "Sev's a nice boy! He has been helping me understand Hogwarts! And he's my friend!"_

_Petunia sneered at Severus. "You shouldn't be friends with such a mongrel. He's like a lost dog. I am surprised he hasn't brought back any fleas!"_

_Dahlia frowned at the tears forming in Lily's eyes. Severus had stood up and began walking away._

_"Why can't you understand, Tuney?" Lily asked. "I am the only one that is nice to Severus, he needs me."_

_"And what about me?!" Petunia asked. "You're my sister, and you spent the entire school year away from home, and now that you're back all you do is go and play with him!" She pointed to the direction Severus had disappeared off to. "You've had all year to play with him!"_

_"I'm sorry, Tuney!" Lily said, hugging her sister. "You can join us, you want."_

_"I don't want to go near him! And you shouldn't either!"_

_"It's just that... he's so lonely... He has no one." Lily whispered._

_"To which he deserves!"_

_"He does not!" Lily shrieked._

_"He's a freak! And he's going to turn you into one!"_

_"He is not a freak, and I will never be one neither!" Lily shouted and ran off to find Severus._

_Petunia watched Lily, angry tears streaming down her face._

_"Mum..." Dahlia stepped up to the teenager. "You let your jealousy ruin everything." She said quietly, slightly shaking her head. "You're so bitter... and because of that, you lost the only friend you truly ever had."_

_Mum couldn't hear her though._

Dahlia was starting to get frustrated with these dreams. They made her feel so helpless, even if she knew that that wasn't true. She had helped Dudley understand, and perhaps even Dad. Mum was getting there, but she was still on the fence about the magic her daughter could do.

"You're going to have understand one way or another." Dahlia whispered into the night, now wide awake. "You'll have an extremely lonely future if you do not..."

* _/_ *

"It's not just because she can cast magic, is it?" Vernon asked his wife one morning while the kids were out enjoying their free days of summer.

"I don't know what you mean." Petunia said, sipping her tea.

"You know bloody hell what I mean, love." He said gently. "Anyone would be an idiot if they couldn't sense your jealousy. Over your own daughter too." He shook his head.

"Jealous!" She shrieked. "I am not jealous!"

"Then what is it?" He asked. "Do you really consider her a freak? I hope not, because if that's the case, you really can not deny being the mother of one, and I can tell you wish to mother her, just as you used to. Your mothering instincts for that girl hasn't changed. You miss having your moments with her." He looked at his wife, who was avoiding eye contact with him.

"Look," he said. "I am not going to say that I prefer Dahlia this way, but she is what she is and she makes the effort to please you like none other. She's given you no valid reason to treat her the way you have been. You're adjusting, yes, I'll give you that, but she's not going to hurt you, dear. There's no need to be afraid of her. For four years we didn't even know she could do magic. She has an unusual control of it-"

"Lily could control it." Petunia interrupted him, putting a hand to her forehead. "I miss her so much!" Petunia had difficulty saying the last, a lump forming into her throat. "We didn't get along. I often felt myself hating her, but it wasn't a real hate, Vernon. She was my sister. It's just..." tears shed from her eyes. "She didn't understand me, I guess. And maybe I didn't understand her..."

"Dahlia understands you though. And she's not like the other wizards we have met. That Potter man was infuriating! Hated that man from the moment I met him. But we know not all wizards are so... arrogant. Harry's not..." he added the last quietly.

Petunia was quiet for a few moments. "No..." she said thoughtfully. "He has an awful temper, but he's very much like Lily." A faint smile spread across her face. "Brilliant like her too. Both him and Dahlia."

"Must be the eyes." Vernon joked mildly.

Petunia nodded distantly. "Must be."

Two days later, she sat both Harry and Dahlia down on the sofa. They waited for her to begin, expecting some pointless lecture on how to behave, thinking she had a neighbor coming by for tea or dinner.

She looked at each of them, as if memorizing their faces before she closed her eyes. "I want to apologize to both of you." She could barely be heard, and neither Dahlia nor Harry thought they had heard her correctly.

"Excuse me, Aunt Petunia?" Harry spoke softly. "You are sorry?" He asked cautiously.

"I am..." she opened her eyes to look at him. "Especially to you, Harry. There are things that I am not too comfortable explaining right now that made me have a resentfulness to you. For that I am sorry. I can only hope that one day you will forgive me for my mistreating of you."

Dahlia could tell her cousin was at a loss of words, he stared at Mum for the longest of time before he wet his lips. "So you... don't hate me anymore?" He asked uncertainly.

Mum gave him a teary smile. "I never hated you..." she whispered. "I just..." she sighed. "The wizards- they took my sister from me..." her voice cracked before she started weeping. "And then they killed her!"

Dahlia wiped her own layer of tears, the death scene of Aunt Lily so vivid in her mind. She stood up and wrapped her arms around her mother. "Mummy, don't cry..."

"Aunt Petunia..." Harry had also stood up. "I am also sorry. It is my fault, after all, that she is gone..."

"Harry!" Dahlia shrieked. "Don't you dare say that!"

"She's right, Harry." Mum said firmly. "You did not make that evil man attack you." She snatched the shoulder of his shirt and yanked him to her into a hug. "I should have done this long ago..." she whispered. "It was never your fault, it was my own bitterness-spitefulness- that made me treat you the way I had. That's over all now. You..." she smoothed his stubborn, messy hair down. "Are my family too, wizard or no wizard."

Harry was dumbfounded by his aunt's sudden change of heart toward him. Though he was stunned, he felt joyful inside, for he had always wished his aunt would treat him better. It wasn't like he had a choice in who he was.

Harry hesitantly hugged his aunt back. "I... forgive you." He said slowly, and truthfully.

"Great!" Uncle Vernon shouted making the boy jump. Harry gasped out in surprise, for the large man wasn't red faced with anger, instead, he wore a huge smile. "Finally!" He said to his wife and walked to her, giving her a kiss on her tear stained cheek. "I so am proud of you, my dear." He whispered.

Harry had backed around from the man, standing; waiting for him to come to his senses, and bark at him in anger.

"Come here, Harry." Uncle Vernon spoke gently. Harry obeyed, fearing the alternative. His uncle set a hand on his shoulder. " Now that your aunt has accepted her blood, I would also like to apologize. I never agreed with her on your treatment toward you, and I am very proud to have you as my nephew."

Now Harry was really dumbfounded. The two people, who he never thought would understand the idea of magic, were actually accepting him, the freak, into their family.

"Um... Thank you, sir."

"No more of that, either. Uncle Vernon is enough of a name."

Harry nodded, a tiny smile forming on the boy's face. "Alright, Uncle Vernon."

* _/_ *

Dahlia, Dudley, and Harry watched Ciard and Hedwig swoop in circles high up in the air, stretching out their wings.

"I often wonder what it feels like to fly." Dudley said.

"It's not as as great as you'd think." Dahlia said at the same time Harry said, "It's the best feeling ever!"

Dudley chuckled. "Well, that was incredibly helpful."

"The wind roaring in your ears, blowing through every crack of your clothing and right back out, whipping through your hair." Harry sighed, desperately missing the time he spent flying.

"Well, the wind is awfully cold, and half the time you can't hear anything." Dahlia gave her opinion on flying. "It's neat though. I mean, it is faster travel than foot, but I can't wait until I learn to apparate."

"What's that?" Dudley asked.

"It's where you can teleport say from here to London in just a split of a second. Professor Snape apparated me outside of London the first day I met him. It makes you woozy and light headed, but he says that the nausea goes away after a while."

"I like my broom." Harry said, discarding the idea of apparation. "I hear that you can get splinched in half if you do that wrong." He shuddered.

"They can put you back together." Dahlia said. "I think..."

Dudley wrinkled his nose. "Can you imagine your arse being somewhere and your head another? Imagine coming across such a sight." He let out a laugh. "It would be pretty funny, really."

"Yes, but I doubt the bottom half of your body is going to walk around with the other half missing like in the cartoons." Harry seriously.

"Ah, true."

"Whoa!" A new voice was heard not far from them. "What's that?"

Harry and the twins exchanged grimacing looks before turning around to see Craig standing at the end of the walk path, gaping up at the flying owls.

"Are those owls?" He asked.

"Yes, one is mine." Dudley said smugly, happy enough to rub in that he had something that Craig didn't. "Ciard!" He called up to his owl. "Come here, buddy!" The owl faithfully soared down to Dudley, landing gently on his outstretched arm.

Craig was at a loss of words. Dahlia never thought it was ever possible.

"You can pet him if you want." Dudley offered.

"What can he do?" Criag asked stroking the ebony feathers softly.

"All sorts of things. He's been trained by the best owl wrangler. Ciard, want to do a trick?" Dudley asked.

Ciard out let out a chirp and extended one of his legs out, understanding Dudle perfectly. In the past year, Dahlia learned that most companions could understand more clearly than non magical animals, owls especially.

"Okay watch." Dudley told Craig, who nodded with his full attention. Dudley took out a piece of dried pork, a treat that he had learned Ciard really enjoyed. "Ready?" He asked the owl who clicked an answer. Dudley threw it straight above him. The hunk of meat flew high passed the height of the roof of the house. Ciard took flight, racing up to it and snatched it from the air with his claws before coming back down to the ground to enjoy his reward.

"Magnificent." Craig said in a whisper. "You have a beauty there, Dudley."

"Thank you." Dudley said.

"Speaking of beauty." Craig finally appeared to notice Dahlia was present. He didn't notice that Dudley and Harry's faces suddenly sported horrid looks of disgust. "I came by to see if you wanted to go to the funfair next week. I'll pay for everything."

Dahlia refrained from laughing at her brother and cousin and with a serious face, she said, "Oh, I am so sorry, Craig, but we're going on vacation next week, and we'll be gone for two weeks." What a bummer. She thought sarcastically.

"That is quite a shame." He said with a frown.

"Such a shame." Harry added quickly, biting back a smirk. "Maybe next time."

"Well, they are playing Into the West tomorrow at the cinemas. I am going to go see it, you can come with me if you want."

"Um..." How could she get out of this one?

"Family game night." Harry blurted.

"That's right!" Dahlia quickly took Harry's improvisation.

"Yes, if we miss it, Mum would be so dearly upset." Dudley told the boy with a serious look.

Craig tilted his head, as if he had doubted in their story. "Next time then." He finally said. He gave Dahlia a smile before saying he should get back before his mother worries about his absence.

Dahlia heaved out a sigh. "Thanks!"

"How you can be so quick minded with Snape, but not that boy." Harry commented amusingly.

"Well, I couldn't think of a valid excuse... I mean, there's so much going on at school- anything can happen there. Here..." she gestured to the house. "It's sort of dull."

Harry nodded in understanding. "I miss Hogwarts." He said with a sigh.

"Let's go play some video games." Dudley said, trying to cheer up Harry.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27-**

Draco sat at the over sized dining table, reading the letter from Miss Dursley that he had just received. He had already read it five times over, without realizing this. What he did realize though was the fancy handwriting. It wasn't like he hadn't seen it before, but for some reason it suddenly appealed to him. Maybe it was because this had been personally written for him.

Or... it could be because she had signed it with 'Love Dahlia.'

_Love._

It was such a powerful word. He knew that. But in letters, it didn't always mean 'love', did it?

Why he was even bothering to run his mind along this, he had no idea. She was a mudblood. Love between them was forbidden. Father would never approve. As it was, he was running on thin ice just from fancying the girl.

Fancying was one thing. Loving was another.

Still, since he departed from his Gryffindor friends three weeks ago, he could not help feeling a bit of himself missing. He had Vincent and Gregory, but those two spent more time together than with him, making him feel like a third wheel. He felt like he had a place to belong when his Gryffindor friends were around. It wasn't like he didn't have any Slytherins friends, but when he was with Harry, Ron, and the girls, he could be himself, and he didn't have to live up to his name and impress them.

He also couldn't help thinking about that red headed girl that would have made a perfect Slytherin. Mudblood or not, she belonged with the snakes. He had meant no other Slytherin girl that fitted better. Besides that though, he couldn't help missing the sound of her voice everyday. Her giggles at his snide jokes. Her scolding the boys for doing something rude or barbaric. The little shrieks of disgusts and gagging noises she made when something grossed her out. Plus, he missed having someone around to tease. She was someone he could push who wasn't afraid of pushing him right back. Miss Dursley was also someone that didn't find his teasing offensive, unlike practically any other girl Draco had come across. He liked this about her. Girls were much too sensitive for his taste. Not Miss Dursley though.

"Sir." Dobby brought Draco out of his thoughts. The house elf set down his requested glass of pumpkin juice next to him.

"It's about time." Draco muttered. "What took you so long?"

Dobby winced as if Draco was going to smack him along side the head. "Master Lucius needed Dobby more importantly, sir. Dobby's sorry, young master."

"I'll accept that." Draco scowled. Father had top authority after all. "Where's Mother?" He asked Dobby.

"Dobby does not know, sir, but Dobby will seek Mistress."

"You do that." Draco said, his eyes focusing back onto the letter.

 _'While we're having fun on our vacation to the beach, we both miss Hogwarts and you and the others. We can't wait to return. We are counting the days. 37 as I write this. Hehe.'_ With a faint smile, Draco pictured her giggling.

"Hello, dear." Mother came up to him, brushing his perfectly set hair away from his forehead.

"Ah, Mother! You ruined it!" He shrieked, patting his hair back down into position.

"Is that a letter from a girl?" Mother gasped, looking down at Miss. Dursley's letter.

"Uh..." Draco felt his cheeks go hot and he quickly folded it and put it into his pocket.

His mother wore a tiny smirk. "You like her, don't you, son?"

"Doesn't matter, Mother." He grumbled. "She's forbidden."

"Forbidden?" Mother gave him a look like there was no such thing. "How can any girl be so forbidden from a Malfoy heir like yourself?!"

Draco gave her a pointed look. "Mother, you are not thick. Think about it." He then quickly changed the subject. "How is Father this morning? Have you seen him?"

Mother bit the inside of her lip. "He's still a bit cross and on the edge, and he continues to refuse and tell my why. I haven't seen him so upset since-" she paused, a terrified look flushing across her face.

"Since when, Mother?" Draco prompted worriedly.

"Don't you worry, Draco." Mother gave him a smile that he could read was fake and displayed only to try and reassure him. "Your father will be fine. It may just be a midlife crisis."

"Don't you have to be at least forty for that?" Draco asked.

Mother leaned over and kissed the top of his head. "My smart little boy."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Merlin, if you ever say that to me in public I'll die right on the spot!"

* _/_ *

Severus flooed into the Malfoy's Flooing room. He used to envy Lucius when he was younger. He was rich, had a proper family, and he had the most luxurious lifestyle that any person on Earth would dream about. Severus had outgrown that envy though. The death of his beloved Lily had shown him that he had been concerned with the wrong things in life.

Now all he envied the man for was the love that he and his family had for each other. Loyal only to each other, and perhaps even to Severus himself. They considered him a Malfoy- even offered him a home here in the Manor, but Severus didn't belong here, he knew that. And he didn't want to leech off the one person he thought to be his true friend left in the world.

"Hello, Professor." Draco had stopped at the doorway when he seen him.

"I told you not to call me that outside of the school." Severus told him impatiently.

"Sorry, Uncle Severus." The boy grinned.

Severus give a smile. "That's better." He said approvingly. "Where's your father?"

Draco shrugged. "He's been a sour puss lately. We've been avoiding him. I suggest you do the same."

"Well, that wouldn't be an awful idea if he hadn't just requested that I come over." Severus then grunted. "Be nice if he had bothered to meet me here."

"Dobby." Draco summoned up the house elf. The Malfoys had seven of those things, and yet they used this one the most. Severus had no idea why since he was deathly afraid of them, and completely incompetent because of it. Lucius spent more time bitching and kicking at him than ordering him around. Severus couldn't help but to feel a bit of pity for the house elf, but it was none of his business how Lucius treated his animals.

"Yes, young master?" Dobby bowed, trembling.

"Find my Father and tell him that Uncle Severus is here."

"Yes, sir." And the house elf disappeared.

"Your father must have been proud after seeing your grades." Severus said in complimentary.

The young Malfoy stood up taller, showing a bit of his arrogance that he had, no doubt, learned from his father. "Indeed, he was quite pleased, sir, as I am." He said. "I certainly studied enough."

Severus nodded, having had noticed the study sessions he had done with the group of Gryffindors, particularly a certain girl. It had paid off. Each of those seven students scored higher than the rest of their year. "Well done. It gets tougher next term."

"I'm looking forward to the challenge." Draco told him.

"Good to know."

"Severus." Lucius greeted. Severus knew by the tone of his voice that something was bothering him.

"Hello." Severus greeted and watched Draco hurry off, also noticing his father's tone. "Out with it then."

Lucius licked his lips nervously before striding across the room. "I went down to the place where I store all of my dark items." He whispered, a fearful look on his face.

Severus raised an eyebrow. It had been a while since he seen Lucius so fearful. "And?"

Lucius took a deep breath. "The Dark Lord, before he... disappeared, he left me something. A book."

"Lovely, Lucius. He left you plenty of things of his, knowing your interest in them."

"Yes...but... I was going through somethings because of the heat that Weasley is starting with me, and, after looking the book over, it addressed me. At first... I-I thought that I was just imagining th-things..." He said with a slight stutter. "But it was really communicating with me..." he paused, a troubled look upon his face. "I am sure that it's the Dark Lord, Severus."

Severus nodded once very slowly, trying to piece this all together.

"He has ordered me to give the book to Harry Potter." Lucius whispered. "With the rumors of what went on in the school during the last term I fear..." he closed his eyes in torment. "I fear he's making a return."

"It's just a book." Severus told him softly. "He can't possibly return through a book, it is probably cursed in someway though. Perhaps enchanted to impose as him..."

Lucius wrung his hands together, reminding Severus very much of Dobby. "I don't know what to do. I like my life now, Severus. If He comes back..." he trailed off.

Severus pressed his lips together. "Lucius, I told you after his disappearance that he would return. And he has, although, Potter has kept him at bay for the time being, but he's still out there, seeking another loyal man to feed upon. We can not escape the inevitable; He will return."

"When he does... he'll kill us all. Narcissa, Draco, you, myself. Everyone..."

Severus' gut churned at that thought, but he kept his calm demeanor. "No." He said firmly. "We will gain his trust back. He will need his servants to do the petty things he will not bother himself with. He will want to build his army back up, and we are much too valuable to lose."

"But I don't want to be a Death Eater any longer! I like my normal life!"

"We will not have much of a choice. You know that. That mark is there for life."

"That boy. Potter. Did he really burn the skin off of Quirrell?"

Severus nodded, giving Lucius' eyes a hopeful light. "He is really his successor." Lucius said.

"It appears so." Severus said.

"We have some hope then." Lucius said desperately.

"If the Dark Lord doesn't kill the boy before he's strong and knowledgeable enough to take him on. In the mean time, if you really think it is the Dark Lord speaking to you, you should do as he says. Fate will run it's course on the Potter boy, if he is truly his successor."

Lucius nodded. "I hope so. Draco has formed such a bond with him."

"Indeed he has. Let us hope that they are not forced onto opposite sides of the fence. I suggest that you brush up on your Occulemency skill, you're going to need it."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28-**

The family had a splendid vacation at the beach resort they had gone to for Dahlia and Dudley's birthday. Dudley had taken surfing lessons and had even attracted the attention of a girl. Her name was Amanda, and Dudley spent the last three days hanging out with her, making Harry and Dahlia giggle at his finding a girl that he liked. Mum had even thought it was adorable, and Dad was proud that his son was finally showing an interest in girls and not food. Dudley and Amanda ended up exchanging addresses to write to each other with on the last day, and Dahlia had to pull Dudley away from the girl so they wouldn't miss their flight back home.

"Bye..." Dudley said sadly to the black haired girl, who waved to him. She just as sad.

"Young love." Harry murmured to Dahlia.

"So strong." She giggled.

"Dud?" Harry asked an hour later after they were settled on the plane ride home.

"Hmm, Harry?" Dudley asked, stuck in a day dream.

"Did you kiss her?"

"Kiss her?!" He was out of his fantasy now and Dudley's cheeks grew red at that question. "Was I suppose to?" He asked worriedly.

Harry chuckled. "No, I was only wondering."

On Harry's birthday, Uncle Vernon's boss was supposed to come over. He was anxious. "I do hope you do not mind, Harry, but he was busy any other time." Uncle Vernon said, straightening his tie, looking at his reflection in the mirror.

"No, it's alright. You've done enough for me today. Thank you." Harry said, speaking about the trip to Diagon Alley to allow him to spend some of his birthday money that he had received.

"No problem at all. Now please make sure you are presentable for Mr. Mason. I am expecting a promotion."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Harry said before going to his room to change into the nice dress coat his aunt had bought him for this specific occasion.

Dahlia had little work to do for Dad's boss' visit, since she was always properly dressed. Someone knocked on her door just as she finished spraying herself with body spray. "Come in."

Harry came in, looking like he felt stupid. "Help." He requested. Dahlia smiled, noticing his messy hair. Magic wasn't allowed to be cast outside of school, but she had also learned from other Hogwarts students that simple harmless spell casting wasn't enough to warrant getting expelled. If she did a whole lot, she would get a letter in the mail about it, but she knew of only one thing that would tame Harry's hair, and that was her hair sticking charm that she had invented two years ago for her own obnoxious hair.

After waving her hand, his hair magically clung neatly to his head.

"I didn't mean to risk getting yourself into trouble!" He hissed.

Dahlia shrugged. "They won't do nothing to me but send a warning. I heard so from the older students. Slytherins love being naughty. I hear the only time you face getting expelled is from harming someone or casting in front of muggles- neither which I have done."

Harry sighed, accepting her excuse.

Dinner with the Masons went well. Mum and Dad impressed them, Dad with his jokes, and Mum with her cooking.

"Well, I am sure I'll get that promotion." Dad said happily after their guests had left. "Thank you all."

Later, as everyone was retiring to bed, Dahlia heard a thump coming from Harry's room. Her cousin sounded like he was wrestling with something. She then heard a murmur of "No, don't!".

Dahlia went to his room to find Harry trying to snatch a stack of letters from an ugly short creature with long ears and big green eyes.

"Dobby!" Harry grunted. "Let me read my letters!"

Dahlia stunned the creature with the spell Jude had taught her, freezing the creature. "What is that?" She whispered, staring at it.

"A house elf." Harry said grimly. "One that has been stealing my letters to prevent me from returning to Hogwarts!"

"Huh?" She asked confused. "Why would it do that?"

"I don't know! He's too frightened to explain but he says that I will be in danger if I go to Hogwarts this year."

"We ought to tell Mum and Dad about him." Dahlia said, eying the creature.

So they did and Mum wrinkled her nose at it. "What a filthy looking thing!"

"What do we do with him?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore?" Dahlia suggested. "It seems everyone goes to him when they need a problem solved."

Mum sighed, not wanting to face that wizard anytime soon.

"We have to get him out of here." Harry told her. "He's going to ruin everything! He doesn't want me to goto school, and he stole my letters! I can see him messing around the neighborhood; he seems really desperate."

Mum nodded. "Alright. Write a letter to that man."

Two hours later, Professor Dumbledore stood in the living room. Mum, Dad, and Dudley at a fair distance from him, the threat of the last wizard's visit still fresh on their minds. He eyed the creature, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Such a brave thing." He said amusingly. "Do not worry. I will ensure that he is returned to where he belongs." He then looked Harry over. "How are you doing, my boy?" He asked softly.

"Terrific, thank you, Professor." Harry smiled.

The wizard's twinkling eyes then shifted to Dahlia, studying her for the longest time, until she stirred uncomfortably. "Something wrong, sir?" She finally asked.

"Not at all, dear." He assured her before turning to Mum and Dad. "I am quite pleased to witness the turn around you have done for your nephew. Was Severus' words that inspirational?"

"Well..." Mum was lost at words.

"Sir..." Harry spoke up. "My aunt and uncle have seen their errors in their ways. They have been very decent to me this summer."

"That is swell to hear, my boy!" Professor Dumbledore said happily, nodding to Mum and Dad with approval. "Well, I must go now. I have some important business to address. See you at Hogwarts, Harry." He said with a tilt of his head. He then took the house elf into his arms and disappeared without even the faintest sound.

* _/_ *

"I think it is really Voldemort speaking." Albus said to Severus. He had summoned him to his office at Hogwarts after having a word with the terrified Dobby who wouldn't explain everything, but Albus had already gotten a good amount from Severus to fill in anything that was missing.

"And you still insist to let the boy get a hold of that thing?" Severus asked, hiding his surprise that the wizard would put the boy he deemed so precious in such danger of a dark object. "He's only just twelve years old."

"Only long enough for Lucius to full fill his master's orders. I'll then gain possession of it myself."

Severus nodded in understanding. "Most of what Lucius does is an act. He didn't join the Death Eaters willingly, but he has a status to keep, sir; just as I do."

"I know that, Severus. Otherwise he would be Azkaban with the others."

"If he ends up facing trial, will you vouch for him like you have done for me in the past?"

"I will do whatever I can to ensure the safety of him and his family." Albus promised.

"Thank you." Severus slightly, bowing his head gratefully.

"Likewise, Severus." Albus returned the gesture.

* _/_ *

"Oh, Merlin." Lucius muttered. "There's Weasley."

"Father!" Draco said desperately. "Please do not embarrass me. One of those Weasleys is Harry's friend, thus, also mine, so please don't make a scene." His grey eyes pleadingly looked up at his father.

Lucius stiffened. "I don't see why you waste your time with a lot of Gryffindors. There are plenty of Slytherins to make friends with."

"To which I have, but..." Draco shrugged. "He's Harry Potter. What can I say? You wanted this of me, remember? You said, 'Do what ever it takes, son.' Well, this is _'whatever it takes'_."

Lucius eyes shifted away at his son's truth. "I just don't need our name linked with 'blood traitor'. Not right now."

"My friendship with The Boy Who Lived appears to be more important to my peers, sir." Draco assured him. "Not to mention-" Draco puffed his chest out. "I am a hero now. There aren't many of those in Slytherin, Father, that's not really a secret either. I am popular. Practically everyone feeds from my hand because of it but I promise I will make you proud." A smile formed on the boy's face.

Lucius chuckled. "Well, if you're going to go so far as to make a promise." He drawled. His son didn't make promises that he couldn't keep, because of this, he rarely made them.

Lucius wrinkled his nose in disgust at the sight of Arther Weasley, his arch nemeses since childhood. He then noticed his son caught eye of something, and searched for the reason that took Draco's attention from him. He about gasped out in surprise.

_The Dursley girl._

Lucius watched his son's lips twitch, as if he was trying to stop himself from grinning.

"Draco!" Lucius hissed, smacking the boy with his cane. "You're practically drooling!" He said disapprovingly. _At a mudblood at that! A girl that would ruin the purity running through his son's blood!_

Lucius pressed his lips together disturbingly, a tiny voice inside him scolding him for his hypocrisy. There was a time in his own childhood that he had fancied a mudblood. Loretta Applewood. She was one of the few Mudbloods to be sorted into Slytherin, and had been a fine witch. She had even been from a wealthy blood lineage of Muggles. When his father had discovered his boyish crush on the girl though, Lucius had been beaten over the top of his head until he was unconscious. His father had been strictly against meddling with the likes of such tainted blood. Slytherin or not.

Lucius' father had gone to school with the Dark Lord, and had been his dorm mate and friend. When Lucius was only fifteen, his father pressured him into joining the Dark Lord's side, and even threatened to take away his rightful inheritance and denounce him as the heir if he didn't do it. Lucius had been a pampered boy and he did not want to live out on the streets, never had worked a day in his life. He also did not want to end up like his friend, Severus Snape, who could barely walk some days because of what his father had done to him. And so he agreed to do as his father had requested and became a servant of the Dark Lord's.

After his father had died in a duel during the first war, the Dark Lord promoted Lucius into his close circle of most faithful servants. You didn't refuse an offer the Dark Lord gave you. Not if you wanted to still be amoung the breathing.

Draco rubbed his sore head, scowling at his father.

"Your mother did mention a girl." Lucius said, eyeing the red head who was smiling at Harry Potter as he stood next to the Lockhart bloke, getting his picture taken for the Daily Prophet. "She didn't mention who it was though."

Draco was puzzled by his father's reaction, he had expected another thump on the head, but all Father did was look at Miss Dursley with a blank face.

"Tell me about her, son." Father said, his eyes still on the girl.

"Excuse me?"

Father looked at him, still blank in the face. Draco hated it when he did that. Him and Uncle Severus did that when they didn't want someone to know their true feelings. But this time it really puzzled Draco. Why was Father hiding his expression from him over a mudblood? "What makes her so special?" Father asked, emphasizing every word.

"Special?" Draco snorted. "She's a mudblood father!"

Father's eyes narrowed at him. "Yes, one that you consider as eye candy." Lucius tilted his head, eyes glancing back at the girl. "She is pretty, but she is not the only pretty twelve year old witch with such perfect dresses and formatted hair. Now stop beating around the bush, son, and tell me."

A lump formed into Draco's throat and he suddenly felt like he was in a three hundred and fifty degree brick oven. "Well... I..."

"You don't even know?" Father tutted. "How adolescently typical of you."

"She's just perfect." Draco sighed in defeat, no other words coming to his mind. "She is not like the other girls. She understands me." He winced, closing his eyes, awaiting for his father to clobber him with his cane, but still, nothing happened.

When Draco opened his eyes back up, he saw his father nodding. "I would refrain from an open display of your affection. We have a reputation to uphold. Remember you are Pure; do not get lost in your passion." He said sternly before walking to Harry Potter, who was now free from the reporters.

Draco stared at his father in disbelief.

* _/_ *  
"Here." Harry said to Ginny, putting the autographed Lockhart books he had just been given in her cauldron. "I'll buy my own."

Ginny's brown eyes widened at his gift. "Th-thank you!" The girl whispered.

"Harry Potter." Someone drawled behind Dahlia, Harry, and Ginny. It was Draco's father. Draco stood along side him. "Lucious Malfoy." he said introducing himself and extending his hand out. "Draco has told me all about you. Such a pleasure to meet you." Mr. Malfoy flashed a smile.

"Likewise, sir." Harry smiled back, taking the offered hand into a shake.

"Hello." Dahlia said.

"Hi." Draco said quietly, a slight blush forming to his cheeks. Dahlia smiled at that. His crush must had strengthened over the summer. She had had that feeling, since he had replied quickly to every one of her owls.

"Miss Dursley." Mr. Malfoy said simply. He then faced his son. "Draco why don't you treat your friends to some ice cream while I buy your books?"

"Sure." Draco's said as Mr. Malfoy handed a pouch of coins to his son.

"If you want, I can hold your cauldron so you can enjoy your treat easier." Mr. Malfoy offered to Dahlia, who held both her and Harry's items since her cauldron was charmed to hold an endless amount of things.

"There's Hermione." Harry pointed out and he and Draco went to go invite her for ice cream.

Dahlia stayed behind though, looking Mr. Malfoy over carefully. A slight feeling of déjà vu had swarmed her. She knew to trust her gut more than anything. "Thank you, sir." She finally held out her cauldron to him, forcing a smile.

_What was this man up to?_


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29-**

When they returned home, Dahlia was able to discover why Mr. Malfoy had kindly offered to hold her cauldron. While Harry was busy showing Dudley some neat products from a favoured shop of his, Dahlia divided their things up and came across a book neither Harry nor herself had bought. As soon as she touched it, she let out a gasp and retracted her hand from it. Something flashed into her mind.

_"You're dead, Harry Potter." A handsome teenager said, hovering above Harry who sat on a stone floor, breathing heavily. Harry was clenching his arm painfully, his eyes squinting in an effort to keep his consciousness. "Even the bird knows it. Do you see? He's crying." The bird was named Fawkes, and he was Professor Dumbledore's companion. Fawkes was indeed crying at Harry's predicament._

_Dahlia stood next to them, watching the scene, and again she felt helpless; unable to do anything to help the innocent victim. The taller boy wore a cold smile, watching Harry slowly die with complete interest._

_"Take your time, Harry Potter." He said smoothly. "I've got all day, and I plan on watching every last breathing moment of yours." The evil teenager continued on with his victorious sneering words as all villains had a habit of doing._

_Dahlia attention turned completely to Harry, tuning out the boy's voice. He was getting his strength back. She smiled. "You're a cocky one, Riddle." She said. She started giggling at Riddle's realization the Phoenix tears had healing powers. Fawkes had flown off after Riddle had shooed him away._

_"It makes no difference." Riddle raised his wand. "I'll just kill you myself."_

_"No!" Dahlia shrieked at the older boy. "Please don't hurt Harry!" Her eyes then focused on a book next to Harry as he went and grabbed it._

_An ear piercing scream echoed inside of Dahlia's mind._

"Lia!" Harry and the rest of her family was hovering above her. Dahlia lay on the floor by her bed, shaking from cold and fear. Sweat dripped from every pore of her body. Her heart felt like it was bashing its way out of her chest.

"What happened?!" Dad demanded.

"I'm fine!" She sat up from the floor, slightly shaking, gathering up her thoughts. She snatched the book and tucked it underneath her. She had to seek answers. This was important and she couldn't let anyone else get a hold of it.

Who was Riddle? This book probably had something to do with him. She had to find out because Riddle was going to kill Harry.

"Why'd you scream?" Mum asked.

"I stubbed my toe really bad." Dahlia said, wincing.

"Enough to scream like someone was murdering you?" Harry asked, his brow wrinkled.

"Yes." She said simply, forcing a smile. "It was stupid, I know."

"Well, it's good that you're okay at least." Dad said. "Gave us a bit of a fright."

Harry lingered back as the rest of the family exited the room. "Stubbed your toe?" He raised an eyebrow. "And ended up falling on the ground from it?"

"Yes." Dahlia said firmly.

"You're hiding something." He said bluntly, obviously not believing a word she said.

"Okay, so I am." She shrugged slightly. "When I figure everything out, I might tell you."

Harry eyed her strangely, trying to make sense of her odd behavior. "This isn't from some girly puberty thing, is it?"

"No!" She shrieked, slightly embarrassed at his question.

"Okay..." he left too, but not without one last look at her.

She shut the door behind him and wandlessly cast a silencer spell so no one could hear in case she screamed again. She eyed the book like it was going to jump out and bite her.

"Okay, what's so interesting about you?" She asked, giving it a push with the toe of her shoe. What was her mind trying to tell her about this book? She got down to her knees and inspected it. It was safe to touch, or so she assumed, since she didn't feel ill or anything. The book looked ordinary, except for its worn out look. Although, it was not torn or stained, it did look old and not brand new.

Dahlia lifted it into her hands and opened it. It was surprising blank. There were no text what so ever in it.

 _What was so important about a blank book?_ She wondered.

* _/_ *  
"It works on any of them?" Albus asked, eyeing the healing sore on Severus' ferret that he used for testing.

"All that I have had the ability to try on."

"I am surprised you have not sold it." Albus said, his blue eyes focused onto him. "Since Miss Dursley gave you ownership of the main ingredient in your recipe."

Severus shifted his eyes from Albus' stare. "I don't feel it would be right. She insists that she won't need it, I happen to disagree."

"She will not." Albus told him. "If we manage to kill Voldemort before 1996, she will no longer exist."

Severus readjusted in his chair uncomfortably at the thought of Miss Dursley being non-existant. "She's obviously related to that person she is trying to prevent from existing."

"That may not be exactly true." Albus said after a moment. "Perhaps Blake had saved her life at one time, and because of him not existing, she will die."

"He didn't sound like someone who would save a life."

"We do not know much about Blake, we can only make trivial speculations. Our main concern is Voldemort. If Miss Dursley's mission fails, we'll worry about her problem once ours is taken care of. The wizards of the future have already claimed that he falls-"

"And that Potter does it." Severus added.

"Obviously after 1996... Harry will be at least fifteen then." Albus nodded. "It is enough time, not as much as I would like, but enough."

"Yet, you keep hiring useless Defense teachers." Severus grumbled.

"If Lockheart's stories are true-"

"They are not."

"If they are, he will be an excellent teacher."

"Perhaps if I could find out who a certain group of first years were using last year, you could offer them the job, since you're completely against my own offer." Severus said with a sneer.

"Ah, there will be a time for that, Severus, but now is not it, I am afraid."

Albus had promised Severus the position of the DADA professor eventually, and that was all that kept him sane during his teaching career. When those little smart arsed kids saw the spells he could cast, that would shut them all up. For now, they did not know he was capable of much besides quietly brewing up potions, issuing detentions, and barking out commands. The only reason his own house tolerated him in the slightest was because of his hatred for the Gryffindors, helping them gain a closer victory to the House Cup. He had to pretend to like those little snakes, even though, he couldn't stand most of them. It was all part of the plan in gaining the Dark Lord's trust when he finally did return.

And by God, Severus will die trying to send that creature to Hell where he belongs.

 _You should have spared Lily, and now you will pay dearly, just as I have._ Severus thought bitterly to himself. _We are enemies now, My Lord, and this time, I have the better hand. This time I'll play YOU as a fool_.

* _/_ *

While the boys spent the rest of the summer playing video games, Dahlia was locked up inside her room, forgetting much about anything but the book that Mr. Malfoy had slipped into her cauldron. She tried many things she could think of, seeking her own school books for any information that would explain anything like this, but nothing special happened.

And yet, she refused to believe this to be an ordinary book, otherwise she would not have dreamed about it. Otherwise her eyes would not have focused on to it in the dream. Nor would the dream be reoccurring if it had no importance. This book, that she held in her hands, was going to link her to the Riddle kid in her dream. And she would need to stop Riddle from harming her cousin.

Why would a teenaged boy want to harm another anyway? What kind of child was capable of such a thing?

She traced her finger along the cover of the book, marking it as hers with embossing words. This was for when she would take it to Hogwarts. If people thought it was her schedule book, she was sure no one would wish touch it with a ten foot wand. She then stuffed it deep into her trunk.

Maybe she can find something in the Hogwarts library about blank magical books. Although, it hadn't shown to be at all magical, she was going to go out on a limb and going assume that it contained some sort of magic.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30-**

"I want letters from you too, Harry!" Mum said, hugging the boy. "And behave yourselves, or I may just learn how to use one of those Howler things."

"You know about howlers?" Harry asked in disbelief as Mum released him.

"Of course I do!" She huffed. "Your mother often complained about them." It looked like she wanted to say more, but she didn't continue.

"Oi! Harry!" Ron came running up. "Oh, hi there, Dudley."

"Hey."

"I'll make sure they'll get on the train, you bet!" Mr. Weasley said to Dad who asked if he could assist Harry and Dahlia since they had to get Dudley on his own train to his school.

"Bye Dad, Mum, Duddlers." Dahlia said as she and Harry waved to their family who reluctantly had to hurry off.

"How was your summer?" Harry asked Ron.

Ron gave a short shrug. "Bit boring."

"Ours was mildly entertaining. Dumbledore came to our house; but you know all about that."

"Come now, let's go!" Mrs. Weasley's voice was stern, interrupting the boys' chatter. "Percy, you first, since you're Head Boy and all." She said adoringly.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Did I mention-"

"Percy made Head Boy." Dahlia and Harry said together, and the three smiled.

Quickly, the rest of the Weasleys went through the pillar, leaving Ron, Harry, and Dahlia behind. Harry was next, but when he went to teleport to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, the magic spell on the pillar must had jammed up, because he ended up making an ugly crash.

"Harry!" Dahlia helped him up. "Are you okay?" She asked after she seen him clutch his side.

"Yeah." He grunted painfully and proceeded to pick up his tossed belongings, starting with a screeching Hedwig.

"Poor, Hedgie." Dahlia soothed, having had adopted Dudley's nickname for her.

"Blasted kids and their lack for caring for animals." a man mutter upon their passing.

"It's called an accident, you know!" Dahlia called back with a sneer.

"Shhh!" Harry said with slight embarrassment.

"Hey, this thing's plum solid." Ron announced, giving the metal a knock.

"Great!" Dahlia said. "We'll miss the train!"

"I reckon Mum and Dad can't come through if we can't." Ron said after a thought.

As Dahlia kept an eye on her watch, the boys pushed their trolleys with as much physical power as they could against the pillar, but neither were able to get their trolleys to pass through.

"Train's left." Dahlia announced with a sigh.

"Now what?" Harry asked, completely stumped. "We're stranded!"

"Got any Muggle money?" Ron asked.

"Some." Dahlia replied. "Not enough for tickets home though, most what I have was for the train's refreshments."

"Same here." Harry added.

"We should owl Professor Dumbledore." Dahlia decided.

"We could take my dad's car." Ron suggested.

"Your dad has a car?" Harry asked, throughly surprised.

"Yep! And it flies too!"

A newspaper article flashed into Dahlia mind then. _'Two muggles mystified by flying Ford Angila.'_

_An angry Professor Snape was reading the article coldly aloud. He was sitting behind his desk in his dark, cold office. "Doesn't your father work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office?" The professor asked rhetorically. "Dear..." he tutted. "...his own son..."_

_Ron and Harry, who were the ones he was speaking to, looked ill, but the Professor looked pleased._

_"With all you have done tonight, if you had been in Slytherin, I would have had you expelled." Professor Snape eyed the boys with a sneer. "Let's see what the people who do have the power to do so will say about this." He said lazily._

_Ron and Harry watched in horror as the professor left in his sweeping way._

Dahlia's mind was returned back to her then. She bit her lip. _Well, that's not going to happen!_ She told herself.

"We are not taking your dad's car anywhere." Dahlia said. "My parents would kill us-" she pointed to Harry and herself. "And I seriously doubt your mother would do any differently, Ron." She opened her trunk to get out something to write with. "Let me do the thinking, okay, Ron?"

"Fine." Ron grumbled, mostly upset because he wanted to drive the flying car.

Dahlia sent an owl off to Professor Dumbledore, explaining their situation, and then the three went to the Weasley's car to sit until help arrived.

"Just a little test drive?" Ron asked Dahlia pleadingly, after they had stuffed their luggage into the spacious inside.

"Do you want to get expelled?" She asked him. "For one thing, we're too young to even drive a car on muggle streets. Second, we've barely learned to fly a broom, and you want to try a car? Which I am sure is probably illegal somehow or another, and your father could get fired for it."

Ron gulped loudly. "You're right." He said quickly.

"Now what would you do without at me?"

"Probably have gotten in deep mud." Harry answered.

"Likely so." Dahlia said with a knowing grin.

In their hour of wait, a few muggles came by asking where their parents were and if they needed help but Harry just told them that they were waiting for their parents, and that they were, in fact, alright.

"I'm bored." Ron yawned.

Dahlia opened her trunk and threw a deck of cards up to the front of the car, hitting Ron in the head. "Oops." She giggled. "Sorry." She said truthfully.

Ron scowled, rubbing his head, but quickly forgot about it, thankful to have some entertainment. He and Harry started an Exploding Snap match. And that was how Professor McGonagall found them a few minutes later. She knocked on the window and all three of them smiled when they had seen her. She did not look too pleased with having to be there. She was dressed in a modernized muggle dress and looked odd without her pointed hat. The professor looked really displeased when she saw Harry grin at her attire.

"Thank Merlin!" Ron gasped, opening the door. "I thought we were going to have to stay here all night!"

"Professor Dumbledore explained everything to me. It was good that you knew to send us an owl." She nodded to Dahlia and then got inside of the car, and tinted the windows so no one could see what was going on. She shrunk their trunks and told them to put the mini boxes inside their pockets and to not lose them. Then Professor McGonagall beckoned them out of the car and said that they needed to follow her.

They walked for four blocks, rushing behind the hurried woman, and were just beginning to pant before she turned onto the walkpath of a very tiny house. They followed her nonstop inside of it. It had two chairs and a fireplace on the left, a small kitchen on the right, and, straight from the exterior door, was a doorway to a hallway likely leading to a bedroom and a bathroom.

Professor McGonagall walked briskly to the fireplace and took something off of the mantle that looked like an urn.

"Floo!" Ron exclaimed.

"Floo." Professor McGonagall simply said with a nod. "You will go first, Mr. Weasley, as you have done this before."

"Where to?"

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Headmaster's Office." She said slowly and clearly.

Ron grinned and took some of the powder from the urn. It looked sort of like ash and mineral.

Ron disappeared with an engulfing flame and the professor said that it was Dahlia's turn.

The girl nodded, unsure quite how much floo was needed. "How much do I need?" She echoed the question that was in her mind.

"Just your own handful, dear." The reply was kind. "Speak very very clearly. Slowly if you have to. Every syllable must be clear."

"Yes, ma'am." Dahlia then copied what Ron did and stepped into the hot, but not searing flame. she felt a similar sensation as when Professor Snape had apparated her to Diagon Ally. She was tossed out of the fireplace quickly, and Dahlia lay there on the stone floor panting for air, swallowing many times to keep from throwing up.

She wished she could get used to that.

"It is good to see that you are safe." Professor Dumbledore greeted. He stood in front of Dahlia. She got up and noted his many gadgets. And his phoenix. "Fawkes..." she breathed.

"You know of my companion?" The man asked, as if it was not at all a surprise to him. Dahlia found this a bit strange.

"I've read about him." She said quickly.

Harry came in then, landing near Dahlia. "Wow!" He gasped. "Not sure I liked that at all." He grunted.

"We're sorry we missed the train, sir." Ron spoke up, eyeing something that looked like a globe.

"Not to worry." Professor Dumbledore said softly and Professor McGonagall came through the Floo, landing gracefully. With a wave of her wand, her muggle clothes changed into her normal formal wear.

"That's pretty brilliant." Ron commented.

"Down to the Great Hall." She clapped at her students impatiently.

"Our robes..." Dahlia reminded the woman, showing her shrunk trunk.

Professor McGonagall nodded stiffly and unshrunk them. "Get your robes and your hats out and put them on. Don't worry about your trunks, they'll be in your dorms by the time you get to bed."

"Yes, Ma'am." Harry said, and the three hastily did as she said.

"We're second years!" Ron exclaimed when they got to the entrance to the Great Hall.

"No longer firsties." Dahlia grinned happily. "How's Peeves going to address us now, I wonder."

"Secs?" Harry suggested and Ron burst out in a snorting laughter.

The Second years joined their housemates at the Gryffindor table. The room was loud with voices, as everyone was greeting each other, having not seen their friends since the last day of school.

"Where WERE you?" Hermione asked. "Draco and I waited for you, but you never came!" Harry explained to her what had happened.

Dahlia took a quick glance at the Slytherin house table, searching for a particular blonde. He was in the middle of a laugh before their eyes met, making him cease immediately. He stared blankly at her with his grey eyes before someone threw a wad of what looked like a wet blob of paper. He threw it back, a scowled displayed on his face that was directed to a dark skinned boy across the table from him who was in a series of laughter and pointing a finger at Draco.

The sorting started soon after, and one by one the first years were disappearing off the stage. The Gryffindors howled with excitement as Ron's little sister was made into an addition to their house. Once everyone was sorted, Professor Dumbledore did his speech and then the food appeared,, and everyone began to feast.

* _/_ *

"Did you get the book?" Albus asked Severus after dinner.

Severus stood stiff in front of his desk. "I did not find any books in Potter's trunk besides the ones that are needed for learning." He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I even went through Miss Dursley's trunk, and Mr. Weasley's, just in case there was some mere chance that an exchange was made. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"This is not good." Albus said gravely. "If we don't find that book, we may have a catastrophe in the making."

"Perhaps the boy is carrying it on him?" Severus suggested.

Albus gave a nod. "Go on and check as soon as you can."

* _/_ *

Up in Dahlia and Hermione's dorm, Hermione busied herself with a bunch of the Professor Lockhart's books, sighing deeply every so often. Dahlia wrinkled her nose at the stack of useless books. They were good if you wanted to drool over a good looking man, but other than that, there wasn't any real information in them. She found these a waste of time. You must have an excellent shield to block an Nemeanalion attack, and the armour Professor Lockhart had worn wouldn't be enough.

"You don't think that he's tweaking his stories a bit?" Dahlia asked Hermione after she was finished reading that Professor Lockhart had merely cast a water spell to make the Nemeanalion scamper off, because 'felines were scared of water'.

Hermione didn't answer her, she was too engrossed with Voyages with Vampires. Dahlia shrugged and put the useless books away. They weren't bad if you wanted to walk along road of fantasy, but for their Defense class, they were quite useless.

Professor Lockhart wasn't any better. On their first class, he presented the second years with a quiz. But it wasn't for anything important. It was just a test on basically how much you knew of him.

Harry and Ron looked puzzled, but Hermione eagerly wrote down everything, knowing each and every answer by heart.

Finding this exam utterly nonsense,, she wrote down what she had remembered from reading Lockhart's books, which wasn't much. Since she considering the books completely pointless, she had been busy thinking about the book locked up inside her trunk. This had been absorbing most of her thoughts lately, probably a bit too much, if she had to admit it.

"I have a real fan here, don't I?" He asked Hermione with a wink. "Would you like to stay after class and get an autograph?"

At the end of the Potions class that day, Harry got held back for some unknown reason. Dahlia and the other Gryffindors of their group waited for him. The Slytherins had another class to get to.

"Well?" Ron asked when Harry finally met them out in the hall.

"For some odd reason he said that Filch accused me of having some joke products that were against the rules to have. He seemed rather peed that I didn't have any in my bag, and ordered me out of the room pretty harshly." Harry's brow creased with a frown.

"Ah, you know how Snape is, Harry." Ron said. "He's willing to do anything for a reason to deduct points from us. Fred and George say it's because he knows we're the best House!"


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31 -**

Draco approached the Gryffindors the next day at breakfast. "Lockhart is a dunderhead." He muttered, squeezing himself between Dahlia and Harry as he always did on the meals he spent with them. "Jade said she'd tutor us again." He said quiet enough for only she and Harry to hear. "She has more free time this year, but she'll probably spend most of that on studying for the NEWTs for next year." He let out a small chuckle. He then gave each of their group a piece of paper. "Our new meeting places." He informed them. "We'll have a new one every other lesson."

"Oh, I like this." Hermione complimented once she read the schedule.

"Thought you would." Draco said. "I told Vincent and Gregory that I wouldn't be too long." He told them. "We'll come over to eat tomorrow morning." He tilted his head in departure and returned to his own house's table.

Their first lesson with Jude that year was the next day. The seven second years waited for Jude to arrive, usually there early, since they were eager to learn more spells that would protect them in a battle should they ever find themselves in one.

Jude entered, and Dahlia about gasped when she saw her. Some of her grey hair was missing, looking like a third of it had fallen out. Dahlia must not had noticed before since her hat had been on, hiding this. Jude's face was also paler than the last year, and a couple of her finger nails were solid black- not from a glamour spell or product.

"Well, stop staring!" Jude ordered the crowd. Even Draco's eyes had widened at the sight of her. Jude glanced over the younger students with cold eyes. "How did your exams go? I want to know if my time is wasted here or not." She remained still, the only thing moving was her eyes.

"I got 100 on Defense." Harry was the first to speak, wearing a proud smile. "Thank you for helping us."

Jude nodded approvingly. Every one of their group scored 100 except Vincent and Gregory, who scored 99. "Good, then my time is not being wasted." She raised her wand to the wall across her way, her brow creased in concentration. Slowly, black letters, outlined with a white glow, appeared, and several moments later she was finished. "You have learned all of the third year material. Fourth year introduces students to many curses. I'll teach you the most important ones you need to know about, and that is-" she gestured them to read the text on the wall.

"Unforgiveable Curses; The dangers of falling victim and the defenses against them." They read aloud.

"Will we get to cast them?" Draco asked, slightly excited and surprised.

"They are Unforgivables, Malfoy." She reminded him.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean on US, on like insects or something."

"I don't encourage it. What you do outside of my lesson is your thing though." She said with a huff. "I will not be teaching you how to cast them, if that's what you're really asking." Her eyes pierced him coldly as if silently screaming a lecture at him.

Draco cleared his throat. "Course not." He said a bit shakily. "I would never request something like that from you."

"Good." She said approvingly. Then she returned to her lesson. "There will hardly be any new spells learned this term, I am afraid. For practical curriculum, practice the spells you have already learned, perfecting your aim and counter spells. They are important for these-" she flicked her wand with a clenched jaw at the words on the wall. "Obviously second year spells should be your top priority so you can pass onto the next year."

There were many nods as they took in her words. Twenty minutes later, she made copies of several pages from her book on Unforgivable Curses and passed them around. "These are enchanted to appear to be information on an abundance of second year spells. With the hairs that I had requested of you last year, I have been able to charm them so only the eight of us can see what it really is."

"Brilliant!" Ron exclaimed.

"Can you teach me that?" Hermione asked eagerly, her eyes lit with excitement.

"Sure, another time though." Jude replied. "For now, this lesson is over. You may do whatever you feel is necessary." She held out her hand to Draco, who promptly set a Galleon into her palm. She smiled happily, once again showing her mouth that lacked many teeth.

"Is it just me, or did it appear that she's missing more teeth than last year?" Harry asked his friends. They all nodded. Dahlia couldn't help but to wonder what was wrong with the girl. She looked to be falling apart.

* _/_ *

Throughout the next few weeks, Dahlia spent most of her free time in the library, isolating herself from the rest of the group. She had no where to begin her research and was aimlessly reading through books. That was until she remembered something in her dream.

Fawkes the Phoenix, who healed Harry's wound. And so she decided to read through the topic of Phoenixes.

Dahlia woke up very early every morning to study in the library in solitude. She also did this because she could cast wandless magic this way, since no one else was around.

The spell she cast searched for a certain word or text that she sought out. She trailed her hand along the backs of books as she walked from one shelf's end to the other, making sure not to skip a single book on the shelf that her magic was scanning. When she got to the end, she did the same for the shelf above, repeating this until she was through with her spell.

The books with the word 'phoenix' in them lit up with a green hue, letting her know which ones she needed to read. Dahlia bit her lip. There were a lot of them. She would be reading for a long time. She took the first ten books and carried them to the table that she always claimed in the far back corner where not even Madam Pince wondered to unless she was feeling bored. Dahlia then got out a piece of parchment and cast another spell which made a list of page numbers where 'phoenix' appeared on.

After three weeks of very early mornings, constant research, and hardly any socializing (as she felt this was an important matter; Harry's life was going to be in danger), her peers began to question Dahlia about her strange behavior.

"Vincent has belched three times in the past five minutes and you haven't even scolded him for it!" Draco spoke up at the beginning of October.

"Yeah, what's wrong with you?" Gregory asked.

"I've been asking her this all week." Harry said. "Studying is her only reply."

"Merlin, have you decided to convert to Ravenclawism?" Draco asked, cocking his brow up.

Dahlia yawned. "No." She said sleepily. "Just studying."

"What are you studying?" Ron asked.

"Birds." Dahlia answered truthfully. "Magical ones."

"Well, I wish you would stop acting like a zombie in Potions!" Ron grumbled. "I'd like my partner back."

"Yeah, it's a shame you're getting used to cattle boogies, and fish livers, I would have thought the smell alone would have made you sick." Draco said smug grin.

Truth be told, Dahlia didn't even remember handling such, and the thought of her touching either one them made her sick to her stomach.

"And you have missed the last two defense studies." Hermione scolded Dahlia. "Surely you don't want to fail?"

"Surely I don't." Dahlia said dryly, thinking more about how important helping Harry was than some silly second year defense spells that she had already learned last year and could do in a heartbeat. She folded her arms onto the table and lay her head onto them for a pillow. A small nap was all she needed.

Her busy mornings were also affecting her grades, one late morning, she had drifted off to a slumber in Potions.

"Miss Dursley!" Something smacked against the table that Dahlia was sitting at. She opened her eyes after jumping to an alert. Dahlia looked up at Professor Snape who was standing before her and staring at her with narrow eyes. "Having any pleasant dreams?" He drawled dryly. "I do not tolerate cat napping during my lessons!" He hissed, slamming his palm against the top of the table a second time for good measure.

Neville gulped loud enough for Dahlia to hear, and he began to shake. Professor Snape didn't scare her a bit, though.

"Sorry, sir."

"You've obviously been spending too many late nights partying." The teacher growled. "Perhaps an earlier bedtime is required? And most definetely more studying time." He took this moment to conjure up her lastast Potions homework paper that he had graded. She about gasped at the red 34.

What happened to her grade?!

"Detention, Miss Dursley. Seven o'clock. Saturday night. And five points will be taken from Gryffindor for drooling on my table."

On Saturday night, Dahlia hesitated at the bathroom on the first floor. According to Hermione, a ghost by the name of 'Moaning Myrtle' haunted this particular bathroom, and could be annoyingly depressing.

Dahlia tilted her head in thought. She had to go really bad, and her detention was going to start in fifteen minutes, which meant she had no time to go back up two floors, make her tinkle, and come back down another three. She squirmed at the pain she was having. Dahlia decided that she had no choice and slipped inside.

She looked around for the ghost. She wasn't afraid of ghosts, having had been introduced to them already, but she liked her privacy. Especially when it came to using the loo. Seeing no other occupants (ghost or not), she took a stall to relieve her bladder. As Dahlia flushed the toilet, she heard a sob in the stall next to her. "Hello?" Her voice eerily echoed throughout the bathroom. Someone walked into the stall Dahlia stood at. Someone transparent, someone short, someone... dead.

And someone young.

The ghost, who Dahlia was sure was the same one Hermione had spoken of, eyed her for a second before her eyebrows creased furiously. "Come to tease me have you?!" She demanded. "Can't get enough of picking on me?! 'Moaning Myrtle has no feelings! She's just a ghost'!" She said mockingly.

"I promise I was only here to use the loo." Dahlia said gently.

"You lie!" Myrtle snapped angrily.

"Would you like that I not come back here?" Dahlia asked carefully. "Next time I can hold it in until I find a different bathroom."

The ghost's look softened before her eyes set to the floor in front of her feet. "You don't have to go..." she said quietly.

"On the contrary, I do. I have a somewhere else to be."

"Will you come back?"

"Um..."

"I knew it!" Myrtle screamed and sailed angrily through Dahlia's body, creating an icy chill through her. "You only came here to tease me! What is it this time?! My hair? My glasses? My body!?" Dahlia opened the stall to find that Myrtle had perched herself on the edge one of the sinks and held her head in her hands. She then started weeping.

"Have I once insulted you, Myrtle?" Dahlia asked gently, feeling bad for the girl. Someone must have done a number on her to make her so sensitive.

Myrtle gasped out in shock. "What did you call me?" The teary voice asked.

"Myrtle. That is your name, isn't it?"

The ghostly girl looked at her for a moments before she nodded. "Yes, but you're the first to say just it..." she hopped off the sink and approached Dahlia, an interested look appeared on to her face. She studied Dahlia and after a bit she asked, "What's your name?"

Dahlia smiled kindly and told her.

"Will... you come back to visit me?" Myrtle's voice still quiet and needy, sounding like a hurt puppy.

"Will you welcome me into your bathroom?" Dahlia returned with a question of her own.

The ghost nodded, the corner of her mouth tweaked up in the slightest of a smile.

"Well, then, of course I'll come back, Myrtle, but now I best be off, alright?"

"Bye!" Myrtle twirled through the air, light as a feather, and actually appeared quite joyous.

So Myrtle just needed company. Dahlia guessed to herself as she exited the bathroom and hurried down to the dungeons.

"Miss Dursley." Professor Snape drawled when she finally made it to the Potions classroom. "You're late!" He snarled.

"Sorry, sir."

"Fifteen points from Gryffindor for your tardiness." Was his cool response. "Bring me your bag."

"Why for?"

"I may just deduct another fifteen points if you do not." He said with a raised brow, likely surprised that she countered him on his authority, something she never did.

Dahlia complied, not all too willing to get into anymore trouble than she had already gotten herself into.

Professor Snape took out every item from her bag, pausing to look at each book. "May I ask why you have so many books on poisons?"

"Only if I can ask why you are searching my bag." She replied softly, showing him some of her curiosity in his task.

"Perhaps this is why your grades have descended?" He sneered without answering her. "You are studying the wrong books."

Dahlia replaced her things into her bag. "Well, I believe I am studying the correct material." She told him a kind smile.

"If you're interested in becoming a healer, you must first pass the general education. And, if you're doing as bad in Charms, Defense, and Transfigurations as you are in Potions, I would seriously suggest a different career approach."

"What is my detention, sir?" Dahlia continued to force her smile of innocence, refraining from slipping a quip at the teacher.

She followed him up to the Trophy Room, where he arrogantly pointed out the Quidditch Cup that the Slytherins still had title of.

"The only reason we didn't win that last year was because Harry had been nearly murdered and couldn't play the last game." Dahlia pointed out sweetly as she polished it to a shine.

She heard him grunt, but he said nothing to that.

"If nothing happens to Harry this year, we'll win both the House and the Quidditch cups." Dahlia told him smugly.

"If?" Professor Snape questioned with mild interested.

Dahlia shrugged. "Anything could happen."

He was silent for a while, standing not far from her, watching her do her work. Occasionally, he would anally correct her when she was doing it incorrectly or when she had missed a spot.

"Like poisons?" He asked very quietly, almost in a whisper.

"Hmm?" She asked, slightly caught off guard by his change in topic.

"Does poisoning fall under your 'anything could happen'; specifically to your cousin?"

Dahlia paused her polishing to eye him, trying to read through his blank expression. How it annoyed her that she could not read this man when she so desperately wanted to. She knew some of his secrets, but Dahlia was sure there were more; a lot more. Some of the dreams that she had about him had made her ask herself about him, and she had had some speculations on him. With what she knew, it was impossible to overlook them. But Professor Snape had a very strange way of expressing himself, and Dahlia wasn't sure if he was just an extremely confused man, and didn't know how to deal with his feelings, or if he really just wanted everyone to think that he was a heartless cold bastard.

"Maybe." She finally answered. She carefully set the award that she had finished polishing back into the glass case that it had been stored in. Her eyes scanned across the engraving and she gasped when her brain registered the connection.

_Special Award Services to the School goes to;_   
_Tom Riddle_   
_1942_


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32-**

"Miss Dursley, get back here!" Severus' words fell onto deaf ears though as he watched the twelve year old girl hurry off. He could not believe his eyes! She was the first one to actually ignore an order of his so boldly. He grit his teeth in annoyance. What was wrong with that girl all of a sudden?! Tardiness! Tiredness! Carelessness! And that was before getting to her recent drop in grades. Miss Dursley was not acting like the girl that he had met last year.

And that was the reason Severus checked her bag for the book he had been looking for. Dark objects could change a person over night. Lucius had told him it was a blank inside and with a plain leather cover. Unfortunately, there were hundreds of those in this school. Hell, he even owned one himself, though it wasn't blank anymore, but still. Severus guessed Miss Dursley had it somewhere though. That, or the most level headed girl in the school is going through some other sort of issue.

"Detention for a month!" Severus burst out in anger as he entered Minerva's office.

"You certainly can not be speaking about me, Severus." His colleague replied.

"For Miss Dursley! She ran out of my detention, and just took off!" He was furious with that girl!

Minerva frowned in thought. "Miss. Dursley... Yes, I understand your frustration with her, there is something very strange going on with her this term. It's like she's a different person all together."

"Have you spoken with her?" He asked. "Perhaps it's some sort of hormonal-" he cut himself off. No, he was not going to talk about _THAT_. PERIOD. But something did need to be done about Miss Dursley. Someone needed to talk with her.

"It could be." Minerva contemplated his theory. She looked concerned. "I'll deduct twenty-five points from Gryffindor for her behavior toward you, and hopefully this won't happen again."

Severus scoffed. "Doubtful. She's already lost over 200 points alone from me this week."

"But you have no patience, and seek every excuse to deduct points from anyone- besides Slytherin that is!"

Severus narrowed his eyes. "It is not only me that plays favourites, Minerva." He growled.

"I do no such thing!" She said indignantly.

"Just go talk to the girl." Severus muttered before stalking out of the office.

* _/_ *

Dahlia had practically ran to the library. She went straight to the yearbook section that listed the students that had attended Hogwarts. There were over 200 books here, each one for every year and house. Dahlia found year 1942 and snatched the four books. With each one, she looked for "Tom Riddle", and ended up finding him in the Slytherin one. She stared confusingly at the picture, thinking that she had somehow had made a mistake. Maybe this boy in 1942 was a grandfather of the Riddle she had been trying to research about, because this boy in the picture, was in his fifth year, looking exactly like the one in her dream.

But he couldn't be the same one. The Riddle in the year book would be 66 years old now. There's no way the Riddle in her dream was 66. He looked very much like... _this boy in the picture._

"I want you to explain yourself, young lady." A very stern voice poked its way into Dahlia thoughts.

"Hmm?" Dahlia asked, only halfway paying attention. She had learned that no other Riddle had attended Hogwarts. In fact, Tom Riddle had been the only student with that surname.

"Miss Dursley!" the books that Dahlia had been reading were then snapped shut. "Now you listen to me!" The voice hissed.

Dahlia looked up to see Professor McGonagall looking very displeased and about ready to blow her top.

"Yes, ma'am." Dahlia said quickly, once her mind registered what was going on.

"What you did tonight was unacceptable!" The professor scolded harshly, but quietly, given their location. "and I am very ashamed with your sudden behavior! You were one of the best students last year and you're starting this year as one of the worst! Do you realize that you have lost 435 points from Gryffindor just in this past week alone?!"

_Shit, was it that many?_

"Mostly from tardiness! Now what is your problem?" Professor McGonagall ducked her head closer to Dahlia, whispering, "Did you become a woman just recently?"

Why was everyone thinking that she was having female issues?

"No, it's not that at all." Dahlia told the professor. "I have just been thinking... of some things."

"Like what?"

"Reincarnation..." Dahlia said slowly, giving it a thought. Would Riddle somehow become reincarnated? Was that it?

"What about it?"

"Do you believe in it? Is it possible to do in this world?" Dahlia asked eagerly.

"As far as I know, reincarnation is part of many muggle religion beliefs, but I have heard no such thing in our world."

"Then is it possible for someone to... deage themselves?"

Professor McGonagall nodded slowly. "There are a few ways. Mostly it can be done by spell, but there are other methods, like a potion, or even a hefty mistake. It's never lasting though, and the person is not going to feel refreshed or anything, they will still feel and know the age they were before the deaging."

"So, it only works for appearance." Dahlia summarized.

"Exactly, but why is this meriting your poor behavior, child?"

"I'll try to do better." Dahlia promised, not willing to go into details. "I apologize."

"Well, at the very least, stop giving Professor Snape an easy reason to deduct points from you." Professor McGonagall's stern face lightened up a smidgen, giving Dahlia a tiny smile.

"I may just be able to earn those points back from him." Dahlia said.

Professor McGonagall scoffed. "If you believe so." She said doubtfully.

"Oh, I will." Dahlia grinned.

* _/_ *

Dahlia spent the rest of the month working on getting her grades back up. She also spent three days a week in detention with Professor Snape, mostly writing lines.

At the start of November, she was nearly through with her punishment when she heard Professor Snape curse under his breath. They were seated in his office, Dahlia was writing some long winded line that he had forced upon her, and he was working on a brew. Most likely another invention involving the curdled cobra eyes.

"Add the grasshopper juice before the powdered owl boogies." She said before she could stop herself. Dahlia had no idea where that came from, it just popped into her head. Hell, she wasn't even sure what he was making, and judging by the stare Professor Snape was giving her, she had shocked him too.

"You do not even know what I am trying to do." He said coldly. "So what makes you think I am going to take your advice here?"

Dahlia's eyes scanned across the ingredients that were scattered along his desk. There were many of them, but because of her Grandmother's information, she knew he was making a healing potion.

She returned to her writing, her mind was putting together the ingredients in her head without her help, without her even thinking about it. The steps of a recipe fast forwarded until finally, a body of a man she didn't even know drank it, revealing the effects of the potion. After several minutes of thought, Dahlia finally said. "It's a potion to vanish the horrific scarring of venomous bites in which your last potion invention failed to do." She had managed to say that so seriously that she had to bit her lip to keep from grinning, knowing that she had, yet again, stumped her professor with her over abundance of knowledge.

"Are you giving me cheek?" He asked evenly, probably unsure whether she was or not.

Dahlia lifted her head up to look at him. "You still doubt me?" she asked seriously. "We both know that I am right, Professor. Just go on, do what I suggested earlier. And don't forget the extra drop of liquid at the end."

She heard his robes whip around so quickly that she didn't have to look at him to know that he was frustrated. "How do you do that?!" He asked harshly, demanding an answer. "Here, you can't even measure a cup of urine without wrenching your stomach up, but you're like some potion prodigy or something! It shouldn't work that way!"

"No?" She asked sweetly. "Isn't that how it always goes though?"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Potions didn't go easy for you when you were my age, hmm?" She asked in sarcasm.

"Of course they did! I studied though!"

"Mmhm." Dahlia sang out.

"What are you singing about?!"

"Nothing, sir." Her voice had gone back to seriousness. He wasn't ready to know what she knew, which was, when Professor Snape was a young boy, he often watched his mother brew potions to make just enough money to cover for his father's addiction. He had learned a lot, even though his mother took no time to explain anything to him. It was in his blood though. Over three quarters of the Prince bloodline were Potioneers, and a lot of what they did was not done from reading a recipe, but by what their gut said to do.

Dahlia may not be a potion prodigy like Professor Snape implied, but he was, and if he ever had any children, they would probably be also.

Dahlia only knew the things she did from the books she read, things people told her, and this unknown power that fed her feelings, visions, and sometimes even speaking into her head. She was starting to believe that she may have a second mind- if that were even possible. One thing she did know though, there was no possible way that she was a potions prodigy, otherwise, she wouldn't get nauseous when she had to handle less than pleasant things.

"What are you going to work on next when you get that to work?" She asked. He had gone back to work on his brew, reading between his notes and Dahlia's grandmother's, while also writing down new notes. Dahlia thought maybe it was the directions to the recipe.

"You are supposed to be writing lines." He reminded her with a drawl.

"Oh, I finished long ago." She told him.

He paused his work just briefly enough to raise an eyebrow at her. "Yet you kept writing?"

"It looked like you could use some tips." She said dryly.

"Do you realize that you are the only one alive in this world willing enough to be in my presence while I brew?"

"Perhaps that is because I am the only one that you permit to be around while you brew." She said.

"Nonsense!" Professor Snape grunted.

"You knew deep down, that if I could help you with your discovery that I would. You make no other student write lines, you have all the others scrub out cauldrons, or wander around helping Hagrid. You are a true Slytherin. You may not like having me around, Professor, but you surely like what I can do to help you. Even if you hate the fact of that alone."

Dahlia watched him swallow, a blank expression went on his face, masking his true feelings, but Dahlia had an idea why he tolerated her; why he didn't mind having her serve detentions with him. He may deduct points from her, but Dahlia was a favourite of his, and he couldn't deny it. She was too valuable for his inventions.

Dahlia was going to make this man rich, whether he knew so or not.

"I know just the potion you should work on next."


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33-**

"How did you die?" Dahlia asked Myrtle after finding out that she had died in 1942, a date that had been stuck in her head since she discovered the award of Tom Riddle's.

Dahlia was sitting on the floor in the ghost's bathroom, studying some books on enchanted objects, still having no idea what the book really was. She had been going to this bathroom often, since it was always deserted, except for the lonely teenaged ghost, who wasn't really all that bad. Myrtle had taken an interest in Dahlia's research. Dahlia had actually told her new friend what she was doing. She didn't say that she was trying to prevent someone from hurting Harry, but she did tell Myrtle that she had a vision leading her to believe that the book was somehow evil or dark, and she needed to find out exactly what it is.

"I don't really know." Myrtle said thoughtfully to Dahlia's question. "One moment, I was sitting in that stall crying. And then I heard a boy's voice, so I went to tell him to get out, because he was in a girls bathroom. He was probably there to tease me." Myrtle sniffed at this. "The next thing I see, are these yellow eyes, and then I..." she let out a sob. "I was dead..." she whispered.

"Yellow eyes..." Dahlia said. "How strange."

"I don't remember feeling any pain." Myrtle said. "Well, nothing physical anyway."

"Do you have unfinished business or something?" Dahlia asked. "Why are you a ghost?"

Myrtle blew her nose. "The afterlife wouldn't let a moping, bullied girl into it, and besides that, I wanted to make Olive pay for what she did. She was the worst of all the others. I bet she even murdered me! She was jealous, I think, because my grades were always better than hers!" Myrtle huffed. "The nerve of a muggleborn having better knowledge than a pureblood!"

"You are a Ravenclaw." Dahlia noted, eyeing her Ravenclaw badge on her uniform. "What interests you the most in all of the world?"

Myrtle's eyes shined brightly at the question. "Music." She clasped her hands together adoringly. "Oh, I wanted to be in the school's choir." She then started weeping. "I wasn't good enough though! And they wouldn't even let me watch them practice!"

This girl may have been something grand if anyone had bothered to support her. Alas, everyone had been so cruel to her. All simply because she wasn't pretty enough, or didn't enough wizard blood in her. It was awful...

"Could you sing for me?" Dahlia asked, mostly to bring Myrtle's spirit up.

"You really want me to?" Myrtle's mouth was hung open in disbelief.

"Why not? I'd like to hear you sing."

The ghost beamed with happiness. She then began to sing an old song that Dahlia had never heard before, and Dahlia actually didn't think she was bad at all.

_Dawn is like a gate that opens_   
_In a meadow far and wide_   
_Through the gate I hurry running_   
_There is still so much to do_

_Dawn is like a gate that opens_   
_In a meadow far and wide_   
_Through the gate I hurry singing_   
_There are other children too_

For such a tormented soul, it was an interesting song choice. "That was really nice, Myrtle." Dahlia complimented truthfully..

"You think so?"

Dahlia nodded. "You should sing more." She said gently.

"Maybe I will." The ghost mused.

That night, Dahlia's mind wouldn't allow her to sleep. She tossed and turned as Myrtle's words kept echoing over and over. _'The next thing I see, are these yellow eyes, and then I...and then I was dead.'_

Dahlia shot up from her bed. Hadn't she read something about that not that long ago? She had read so many creatures, poisons, curses, and enchantments, that she couldn't quite remember which creature it was, but there was one that could kill someone so fast by just making eye contact with it.

Then another image flashed into Dahlia's head.

_'Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?' Her cousin wrote down onto a page of a book._

_'Yes.' Dahlia watched as the words appeared on the page of the book without no help nor spell. Harry was writing to the book, and it was replying back to him. Messy words continued to flood onto the paper, as if whoever was writing it was in a hurry to tell the story._

_Dahlia followed Harry as he entered into the pages of the book, also known as the stored memories of Tom Riddle, so she discovered._

When the vision was over, Dahlia quietly got the book that Mr. Malfoy had 'given' her out of the drawer of her cabinet, deciding that the book in her vision was the same one she had been trying to figure out all this time. Once she had it, Dahlia went down to the common room.

In her earlier vision, before Harry was attacked by the older boy named Tom Riddle, the boys were probably in the place called The Chamber of Secrets. The girl that Tom Riddle had told Harry who had died was definitely Myrtle, and the creature that had killed Myrtle was a-

"Basilisk." Dahlia whispered as the creature's name hit her. The king of all snakes, and its poison was the most deadly. The same poison that had been killing Harry before Fawkes came to his rescue. But it was not done by the beast that Riddle had made everyone believe. Hagrid's 'little' pet spider was not capable of that sort of damage.

Taking a deep breath, Dahlia opened the book up. Her quill hovered over the page while she tried to think of what to write. She was about to confront a soul that would hurt Harry, and she needed to stop him. She needed to make him think that she was on his side.

Several minutes later, after thinking of how to get information out of the book, she finally came up with an idea that may work.

Quickly, she wrote; 'How do you open the Chamber of Secrets?'

'No introductories?' The reply was quick. 'Just straight to the question?'

'My name is Dahlia. I already know yours.'

'Do you? Who do you think I am?'

"Tom Riddle." Dahlia answered him, followed by, 'This is your diary.'

'And who told you this was my diary?'

'You did.'

'That's interesting...' Tom Riddle didn't write anything for several minutes. Dahlia thought he might have disappeared.

'Riddle?' She wrote. 'Did you leave?'

'Did I also tell you about the Chamber of Secrets?'

'You did, yes.'

'Yet, you do not know how to open it? I would have told you how; if I felt you needed to know.'

Dahlia snorted. Since she had seen this boy in her mind, she could almost picture his arrogance as she read his words.

'Someone is going to open it.' She replied back. 'This year.'

'Only the Heir of Slytherin can open it. I am the sole heir, thus, it will be I who opens it.'

'How can you though? You're stuck in this book.'

'Tell me the relationship you and I have. Tell me everything about you. Then perhaps, I will personally show you how to open it myself. I may even permit you to open it, with my help- that's what you want, right?'

'I'd just like to see the monster.' She answered.

'Do you realize what the monster is capable of?'

'Yes, it's a basilisk and you can control it. You killed a girl with it and blamed it on Hagrid. On a beast not capable of killing with eye contact.'

'Who are you?'

'I am the person that will release your beast, but I can only do that if you tell me how.'

'It's hardly fair that you know so much about me, and I, so very little about you. Tell me about yourself, and I assure you, I will show you how to open the Chamber of Secrets.'

Dahlia shut the book and chewed the inside of her lip. For someone so eager to cause destruction, he wasn't too excited to tell her how to release the monster. It made no sense. And why would he want to speak with her? He didn't seem the type to be interested in another person. Tom Riddle was a loner. She saw his memories through her vision. He had a group of 'friends' that hung around him, but any chance he had gotten, he would slip away from them, usually unnoticed. No one cared about him, just as he didn't care for no one.

So why did he care to know about Dahlia? Unless it was some sort of trick, but what could he gain from her?

Dahlia knew not to trust this lying murderer, but she still needed answers. How will the memory of Tom Riddle manage to hurt her cousin?

She opened the book back up. He was going to play her like an instrument, she may as well play it right back. 'You are no longer the sole heir to Slytherin, Riddle.'

'You are not implying that I reproduced, are you?' The words were written so slow that Dahlia guessed that she may have puzzled him.

'What if you had?'

'I wouldn't believe it.'

'How else would I know of the basilisk? I doubt you ever told a soul about it, yet I know of it.'

'I would never sink that low.'

'Love is blind.'

'LOVE?! HA! Do you really expect me to believe this?! Besides that, if you really were the Heir, you wouldn't have to ask me how to open the Chamber of Secrets, you would already know how. I forgive your lies though. Tell me, girl, what is your biggest fear?'

Okay, she wouldn't be able to trick him, but she wouldn't let him get the best of her either, so she closed the book again, and rubbed her forehead in confusion. He was so desperate to get to know her. There had to be a reason for this, and if he was so willing to go as far as tolerate her, then Riddle had an agenda. Probably not a good one. And surely not one she wanted to be a part of.

Dahlia would have to learn how to open the Chamber of Secrets without Riddle's help.

* _/_ *

"You did great, by the way." Harry said to Draco a week later, as the group sat down for lunch.

Draco grinned. "I told you that I would be a better seeker."

"Seeker?" Dahlia looked up from her meal, having had only been paying a bit of attention to the conversation until Draco had said that.

"Oh, you finally noticed?" Draco asked. "We spoke about it weeks ago, you've been too busy in La La Land."

"Yes, Draco joined the Slytherin's Quidditch team." Hermione informed Dahlia with a roll of her eyes toward Draco.

"And he gives Harry here a run for his money." Ron said, making Draco grin proudly.

Harry was nodding. "He's even offered to show me a few tricks."

"Really?" Dahlia asked Draco. "Why would you do that?"

Draco shrugged. "I still have secrets that no one has seen, not even the team's captain." he said smugly. "Just because I want to show Harry how to make a proper nose dive, doesn't mean I'll tell him everything I know. He should at least know the basic tricks that any Seeker should know, though."

"That's nice of you." Dahlia told him.

"Sad you missed the first game." Draco's eyes bore into hers. "I made all the girls' heart throb."

Hermione laughed mockingly.

"Oh, Granger, I heard your heart beating the loudest." Draco teased her with a purr.

Ron snorted. "I bet that was from Lockhart's triumphant shout of the Gryffindor's scoring." Hermione blushed at this.

Draco grunted. "Lockhart." He scowled toward the teacher. "Good for nothing-"

Dahlia rolled her eyes as Hermione interrupted Draco to defend Professor Lockhart, going into a long explanation on why the man was so great at his job.

It seemed Hermione was the only one of their group who idolized him. Gregory and Vincent yawned with boredom before they went back to their face stuffing, and the other boys nodded just enough to pretend they were paying attention before going into a reminisce on the last Quidditch match, in which the Slytherins had won, while Dahlia returned to her thoughts. She felt bad for not giving Harry and his friends any of her time lately, but nothing was more important to her than Harry.

She had not opened the book since that night in the common room, but that had been the only thing on her mind. All she could think about was how she was going to open the Chamber of Secrets. Not to actually free the monster that was trapped inside, like she had told Riddle, but to prove it was there, so Hagrid was no longer to blame. Then she was going kill it. A beast like that should not be in a school, and Riddle, somehow or another, was going to be able to open it and cause harm. Something Dahlia couldn't let happen.

She had to keep Riddle from harming anyone.

* _/_ *

"I just know she has it." Severus said, deep in thought. "She's changed too much this year, Although, I am puzzled; most people who spend so much time with a dark object usually become easily irritated and frustrated. Even dangerous. While Miss Dursley's attention span has faltered, her temperament is the same."

"Maybe she doesn't have it then." Albus said softly.

"What would explain her change then? And her researching? She's hardly socializing. I doubt she speaks for ten minutes to an actual person each day, unless she's in one of my detentions- eagerly pointing out my mistakes. Madam Pince has informed me that she's always muttering words to herself. Draco's told me she spends a lot of time alone in the flooded girls' bathroom."

"He has been keeping tabs on Miss Dursley?"

Severus smirked. "While he makes an excellent spy, it's for a much different reason."

"He likes her." Albus chuckled. "His father would just adore that news."

"Indeed." Severus said coldly. "That is not my problem though. I need to find that book. I am just wondering if I should confront her about it."

"No." Albus said firmly.

Severus gave him a cold look. "And why not?"

"How are you going to explain your knowledge about the book?"

Severus sighed. "The Dark Lord is after Harry, and a young girl has a cursed item of his. Now, I am running low on patience. I don't want the lives of children on my hands, Headmaster. We need to do something."

"If the wizards of the future had wanted our assistance, they would have approached us. I am hardly sure Miss Dursley knows exactly who she is, but she was entrusted by a whole generation of people who I could guess were extremely intelligent beings- judging by the spell casting we seen them do; all done wandlessly, remember?" Severus nodded in answer. "You'll only sound insane if you approach her about it. There's not much we can do besides wait."

"Wait until someone is harmed?" Severus asked in disbelief.

Albus shifted his eyes away, adjusting his spectacles. "Hopefully it won't go that far."

* _/_ *  
During Christmas break, Dhalia and Harry went back home. There, Mum confronted her about her poor grades. She had managed to get them up to just barely passing, but she couldn't help agreeing with her mother.

"Why are you doing so horribly?" Mum asked one night as Dahlia was writing a letter back to Draco.

Dahlia couldn't tell her mother the truth. No one knew the powers she had, and, while Mum had accepted the idea of magical blood, Dahlia doubted that Mum would believe she could see into the past and future. It wasn't from the magic of being a witch, Dahlia knew that, otherwise she would have learned the subject in school.

That was one thing that the two worlds had in common. Humans had trouble believing in visionaries, a magic that their minds had trouble grasping.

No one would believe the stories she could tell.

"Girl issues." Dahlia answered with the first thing she could come up with, surprising herself by using the reason that everyone had been accusing her of. If the males of her family were around, she would have felt a bit embarrassed, but her father, brother, and cousin were busy watching some new action movie that they had rented from the video store.

"You started your cycle?" Mum asked, a smile forming on to her lips.

"No... I just... well, there's this boy." She said quietly. At least that part was true. She hadn't had given Draco much attention this year. She frowned at that. Maybe he didn't notice. Hopefully.

"Oh, Craig?" Mum asked, a bit excited.

"Not Craig." Dahlia said firmly, refraining from shuddering. If she were lucky, a girl would cling to him soon, and divert his attention from Dahlia.

"But Craig is a good boy."

"I think it would be best if I liked a wizard, wouldn't you agree?" Dahlia asked.

Mum huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"This way no one would find out my secret." She told her mother reasonably and then she sighed, after seeing the upset look on her face. "I'll still be nice to him."

"You're just so cute together." Mum slightly giggled.

"Yeah. Just _adorable_." Dahlia forced a smile. Craig was just one boy she couldn't tolerate.

A few nights later, Dahlia had a short dream about Tom Riddle. He had Harry's wand and was making swirly lights with it. She then realized that he was actually spelling out words. He finished with a dramatic move and that's when Dahlia woke up with a start. Her eyes fell onto Tom Riddle's diary that rested on top of her nightstand. The words that he had written still completely clear inside of her head.

_'I am Lord Voldemort.'_


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34-**

_...The Year 2069..._

"Aunt Dahl? Are you even paying attention to me?"

Dahlia looked up at the younger man who was asking for her attention. Teditrian's normally purple hair had turned to a dark shade of orange, indicating that he was slightly annoyed.

Everyone called her 'aunt' because she looked out for them, as if they were all her little children. If she had been older, she would probably have been known as everybody's grandmother.

"Yes, sorry. I was just thinking about Blake."

Teditrian frowned in thought. "I know what you mean..."

"What did Mr. DocTomo say?" Dahlia asked, standing from the chair that she had been lounging in. She stretched with a groan.

"He's decided to send you back in time."

Dahlia's eyes widened at the news. "No kidding?" She asked excitedly. Back in time? How far did she have to go? How interesting it was going to be. She heard of time travel before, knew it existed, but it had only ever been a dream in her 46 years. Only those who were very special were allowed to time travel. "When?" She asked eagerly, her bright green eyes lighting up.

"First, we must prepare you." Teditrian advised firmly. "You must realize how serious the situation is. Mr. Doctomo's plan is a bit complicated- for you and I anyway. He assures me that it will work though, and I have complete faith in him."

Dahlia nodded. "Me too."

"You agree to save our world then? And your father's?"

"I do..." Dahlia tilted her head in caution. The way Teditrian asked that made her a bit uneasy. What did she just agree to do?

"Sir." Dahlia bowed low in respect of the wise old doctor that Teditrian had brought her to. He had no head of hair. His long beard and eyebrows were coppery red, unlike most of their population who had green, pink, blue, and purple colored hair. His matched Dahlia's own hair color, who also had a unique hair color compared to everyone else. His green eyes scanned her over, not quite critically, but somewhat interested in her.

Not many people came to his lair. He liked his privacy, and his home was very sacred to him. An invitation to be his guest was extremely rare and an honour. "Thank you for your invitation." Dahlia said gratefully.

"Ah, Ms. Divianto, a pleasure to finally meet you. I have been watching you closely." he incased one of her hands with both of his and give it a gentle shake. "You have great power, power in which that I must request of you in these very dark times."

"Are you sure I am the proper one, sir?" Dahlia asked slowly, still shocked to be standing in the house high up in the sky.

Mr. Doctomo nodded. "Most definitely. I am afraid it comes at a great expense though."

"Expense?"

Mr. Doctomo nodded gravely. "And you are the only one who can do it."

"Horcruxes?" Dahlia questioned Teditrian a month later. "What in the hell are those?"

"They are very dark magical items made from an act of doing something so horrible and unforgivable. They are used to split a soul into many pieces so the creator can't die. Voldemort created six of them."

"Well, that's awfully insane." Dahlia grunted. "Why would you want to not die?"

"Now is not the time to get into the morals of life, Aunt Dahl. Here's the list of where Voldemort's horcruxes were located. File them away, as you will need them where you are going." He placed each of his fore fingers into her ears to transfer his knowledge. Dahlia felt a prick of pressure in her head before he pulled away. "Done." He announced. "Now you need to do some research, and you only have two months to complete it."

 _Ooo, research. More knowledge to stuff inside my head._ Dahlia perked up. "What kind of research?"

Teditrian held up a tiny plastic object making Dahlia wrinkle her nose. "Muggle electronics?" Yawn.

"This card contains the history of three important souls during the time when Voldemort ruled the Wizard World and its surrounding."

"Okay, you've snagged my attention." Dahlia said and watched as Teditrian strapped something with a digital screen around her wrist. "With this Past Lifer and the card combined, you will be able to witness the past, and actually see it happen as if you were there. No one will be able to see or hear you though, as these are only memories, stolen from those who they came from. They will help you on your conquest. You will need to study each and every moment of the lives of these people in order to understand them clearly."

"Who am I going to study?"

"Severus Snape, Harry Potter, and Lily Potter. I advise that you follow actual time, and not each person individually."

"I already know-"

"Not enough!" Teditrian insisted harshly. "You only know what's been told to you. We're depending on you! Now you best put forth the largest amount of effort you can if you want to save everyone."

"What's going to happen, Tedi?" Dahlia whispered fearfully, knowing that he had a valid reason for his outburst.

Teditrian closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "You don't want to know." He said bitterly. "The last ruler of the Wizard World was bad enough. You know Blake personally, you know what he is capable of. You grew up around him." Teditrian paused to look at her before he sighed helplessly. "He's planning on forcing you to reign with him- given all your abilities."

"I'm going to be sick." Dahlia groaned and sat down quickly to keep a sudden dizzy spell under control. "May I ask why you weren't given this important task instead?" Dahlia asked curiously when she could think clearly again. "You are Mr. DocTomo's assistant, after all..."

"I may be able to mimic that-" he pointed to her hair. "And even those beautiful green eyes." He eyed each one, as if memorizing them. "But copies are not the real thing."

"That's a bit confusing." She told him.

"Then, understand this; for the same reasons Blake wants you on his side."

* _/_ *

_...Present Time..._

Dahlia kept asking herself why she was opening the book up again. Her mind was fighting her gut on this. She trusted her gut wholeheartedly, but this was _Lord Voldemort_. The Dark Wizard. The man who was believed to be dead.

Only he wasn't. Or, at least, a part of him wasn't, anyway.

How was it possible?

'So, you are Lord Voldemort.' She wrote, her heart beating fast, unsure what was going to happen.

'I am.'

'You are very ambitious.' She commented with shaky hand writing.

'I suppose we meet in the future?' He asked. 'What are we, 'friends'?'

'You die not long after I am born.'

'Impossible.'

"Well, you're right.' She wrote down a moment later. 'But I am also partially right. Riddle, you do become this powerful overlord, who everyone fears, but one day you decide to kill an innocent boy, only the boy will end up killing you instead.'

The next words gave Dahlia a chill, as they dripped along the page like some horror movie text. 'Harry Potter.'

'You know about Harry Potter?'

'My future self wrote about the Potter child onto the last page of this diary. My future self mostly bragged about it, claiming that he was going to kill the boy that night, and that, I would finally become the immortal ruler of all. It certainly gave this piece of soul some excitement in this dark void that I sit in now.'

'Well, you got out done by a baby. One that could barely talk.'

'I figured something had to have happened. My future self never returned to retrieve this diary. Or boast about the success. I will get my revenge though, and then I will rule once again.'

'No, Riddle, you will not.' Dahlia wrote that as firmly as she could. 'Harry will stop you. He is now the most powerful wizard, and he will kill you.'

The pages in the book started flipping as if the wind had caught it. "Foolish girl!" A dark voice suddenly hissed. One not quite human. Dahlia jumped. Never had she heard the book actually speak. "You do not know who you are messing with! Bring me to Harry Potter or I shall kill you!"

"You can't hurt me, Riddle." Dahlia whispered, unable to find her voice. She backed away from the book, putting distance between it and herself. "I know you can't kill me."

"Come here!" Riddle ordered in the same inhuman voice. "Come here, now!"

Dahlia closed her eyes and focused on her magical core, she then told the book to be quiet. The dark voice instantly ceased its commands. She swallowed hard, both relieved that she didn't have to hear that evil wizard's voice anymore, and also completely terrified, having heard the monster's voice in person besides the just in her visions.

She had a rough idea that if she hadn't had backed away soon enough that Riddle would have pulled her into his diary like he had done with Harry in her vision, and probably wouldn't have released her. While he was not capable of physical touch, he could do a number to her mind.

Dahlia magically bound the book up with a spell so Riddle couldn't open it back up himself. "This is the key to his return." She told to herself, trembling and picking it up carefully. Did he have more diaries like this? She shook her head after a thought. Voldemort wouldn't have added the memory of Harry if that was the case.

A week before Dahlia and Harry were going to return back to Hogwarts, they sat with their family, eating breakfast when Dahlia shrieked out, "Hocruxes!", interrupting Dudley's success story on joining his school's rugby team.

Everyone looked at Dahlia oddly, making her clear her throat uneasily. "So-sorry." She stammered, taking a drink of her juice to wet her dry throat. She quickly excused herself and hurried up to her room.

Dahlia eyed the diary where it rest on top of her trunk, ready to be tossed inside of it. She knew she had to destroy it, now that she knew exactly what it was.

A haunting laugh invaded Dahlia's mind. One that she could swear she had heard before, but she hadn't. It belonged to a man with short green hair and stone cold black eyes.

_"Dahlia," the man said, waving her over to him. He stood at a long folding table, potion ingredients were scattered everywhere along it. "Come check out my latest potion. You'll absolutely **adore** it." Dahlia had a feeling that he doubted his words with the sneer he was giving her._

She shuddered with a chill of fear. She had a good sense of who to trust, and the man with green hair was not a person she would ever want to mingle with. She would meet him though, she knew that. It was a day she would not look forward to.

It then occurred to Dahlia why she had been helping Professor Snape all this time. It wasn't to make him wealthy or famous, like she had originally thought. It had all been done for a totally different reason. She had subconsciously suggested that he create those potions for reasons she had no idea about until now. The potion that the green haired man had made was the one that Dahlia had recently told Professor Snape to make.

She eyed Riddle's diary, holding her breath. She hoped that Professor Snape had been able to perfect that potion, because she really needed a vial of it. As soon as possible.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35-**

_Dear Professor Snape,_   
_Have you completed a batch of the Jayradox potion yet? If so, please set aside seven vials of it for me. I will come by your office and to get them when I return to Hogwarts. Thank you very much!_

_Love, Miss Dursley_

Severus grunted and tossed the letter onto his desk. He rubbed his tired eyes with the tips of his finger. As much as Miss Dursley had insisted that the Divi flower existed, he did not find it under the apple tree in the moonlight on the sixth day of the week, where she had said it would be. Severus couldn't help thinking that Miss Dursley was probably going nutty. He knew every ingredient that was used in potions, and he was pissed that he had been foolish enough to waste his time to apparate home and look under his apple tree for the non existing ingredient.

Cursing under his breath, Severus stood up. The potion she had described had been too good to be true anyway. He could not believe that he had actually believed that such a potion could exist. Now he was in immense doubt. The Divi flower was allegedly the main ingredient that made it different from the potion he (or rather _they_ ) had invented that could cure even the deadliest of poisonous bites.

When Miss Dursley had given him a revolutionary tip for the potion he had been loosing sleep on - one that would absorb the venom of a snake, washing it away from the victim's body, he had doubted her claim then too. She had told him that by adding three teaspoons of curdled cobra eyes along with three drops of charcoal water, the potion would rid any and all poison inflicted by a bite from the drinker. He knew of too many creatures that could bite and leave a man dead in just moments that had no cures. Her information had proven with all the poisons that he had tested though. The potion he invented -they invented- was indefinitely a cure to most poisonous bites, if not all of them. Such information could make him a very rich man, should he ever have time to send it out to the market.

Still, he couldn't believe her recent claim. It was just impossible. Illogical. Ludicrous.

He sent her a reply, sarcastically thank her for wasting his time. Severus knew Miss Dursley would pick up on his snarky words. For some reason that girl could understand him better than anyone he knew.

Perhaps even better than Lily had.

He sighed sadly. _Damn girl!_ Why did she have to look so much like _her_? He was reminded everyday about his regrets by just a mere glance at the red headed twelve year old. As if Harry wasn't enough of a reminder of his loss.

He downed a Dreamless Sleep potion and retired to his chambers.

* _/_ *

Dahlia shook her head in disbelief. The Divi flower had to have been there! It was in her dream! Her dreams were _never_ wrong! They bloomed under every apple tree in each Friday's moonlight shower. "Damn!" She muttered, slamming a fist onto her desk. Why didn't Professor Snape find them? They weren't hard to miss; bright red petals, with an oval green center.

"Something bothering you?" Dudley asked, stopping at her bedroom's doorway, catching her biting her lip in frustration.

"A lot of things." She said worriedly.

Her brother stepped in, a concerned look came across his face. "Can I help?"

"No." She collapsed on her bed, exhausted from all the secret keeping, lies, and the heavy thinking she had been doing over the passed few months. Her head ached, and she was beginning to feel like she couldn't stop Riddle from attacking Harry.

She just _had_ to destroy that book!

"You've been so different lately." Dudley said pensively. "Mum and Dad are worried. Harry too."

"I'm fine." Dahlia assured him. She had no idea how many times she had said that this year. She wished people would just stop worrying over her. She wasn't some fragile little girl. "It's not me you should worry about." she said out loud.

"Who then?" Dudley asked.

"Hmm?" Dahlia wasn't sure what he meant.

"Who should I worry about?"

 _Oh, she hadn't meant to say that out loud._ Damn... "Nobody." She sighed. "Please let me rest." She said, turning over and facing the wall.

"Lia..." Dudley said softly, setting a hand on her arm. "Don't shut us out. What is bothering you? We can help with whatever it is."

"Just leave me alone, damn it!" She said through grit teeth.

Dudley retracted his hand quickly and mumbled, "Alright then." He left her room, shutting her inside of it.

Tears stung her eyes. This whole thing was getting to her, and now everyone thought she was either going mad, or was some depressed little school girl because her normally high grades had plummeted into a meaningless number.

What would they do if they knew what was really going on?

They would send her to a shrink, that's what! Only after freaking out over her story of course. And, _if_ , by some miracle anyone actually believed that she was trying to stop an incredibly insane dark wizard from gaining back his so desired control, they would just say that she was in over her head, that she was just a twelve year old girl with no chance.

Maybe they would be right though. Maybe she was in over her head. Maybe she wasn't the person to stop Riddle. But if she couldn't tell anyone, then who _would_ stop him from opening the Chamber of Secrets and baiting Harry?

Pursing her lips, she sat up in her bed. She'd have to go search for the Divi flower herself, it was the only way to destroy Tom Riddle's diary.

The last day of Christmas break evidently fell on a Friday. Dahlia wouldn't get much sleep, but she had no choice. She needed to harvest the special flower.

The nearest apple tree she could remember was ten blocks away. A long walk for a stroll in the early AM.

Dahlia lay wide awake, until everyone had went to bed. She tiptoed down stairs, bundled up with three layers of clothing, for it was a very cold morning. As she stepped outside, she could see her breath in the faint light of the street lamps. Quickly, she walked to orchard that she used to pass by nearly everyday when she had attended primary school. She shivered as the bitter, icy breeze cut through all three of her layers and she cast a warming spell on her clothes, grinning from her brilliance.

Surprisingly, she had not gotten one letter from the Ministry for all the spell castings she had done. She never gave it much thought until now, faintly remembering Hermione making a claim that she had gotten a letter for her simple spells. The girl, who hardly broke any rules, had been a bit worrisome over it, but Draco successfully calmed her down by saying they wouldn't expel a student just because they were transfiguring mice into teacups.

Dahlia reached the orchard, but the gate was locked- of course. It hardly made sense though. No one could steal fruit from a tree in the middle of winter. Her eyes scanned across the abundance of patches of brightly coloured flowers. Dahlia smiled happily. Those were it.

Still on the outer side of the gate, Dahlia snapped her fingers, cutting the stems of a complete patch of Divi flowers except for one single flower. She then summoned them to her and gently set them in a mesh bag.

She was ready to go home.

* _/_ *

Professor Snape stared at the pile of flowers that Dahlia had dumped onto his desk. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"I will admit that I had my doubts when I didn't see these under my own tree."

"They grow under every apple tree." Dahlia told him pointedly, removing the stems from the flowers.

"Obviously not mine." He grumbled as he also started stemming the special flowers.

"Well, it doesn't matter!" She said cheerily. "We've got them, and now you can make the potion and give me the vials that I need."

Profressor Snape raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Why would you need such a potion?"

"I like to be prepared. Much like yourself."

He continued to eye her, all the while removing the stems masterly. "I don't see how you would need it." he challenged her to explain her reasoning.

"I think supplying the most important ingredient should be enough of a reason."Dahlia told him blankly. " It's my potion, just as it's yours." She couldn't help lifting a flower up to her nose and breathing in deeply, allowing its slight sweet, apple fragrance flood through her nose. _Why did it smell so familiar?_

"Tell me why you want them, and I'll give them to you."

"Do you know why I named the potion Jayradox, Professor?"

He was silent for a while, searching his brain for terms. "Partly for the name that means 'healer'." Professor Snape finally said. "I don't understand the last part though, unless... it has another purpose?"

Dahlia gave a small nod. "This potion can be used for both good or evil." She told him, playing with the flower. "It starts off as a remarkable cure, but after just one single drop of human blood, it can cause a grand amount of irreversible damage."

"Then, why, may I ask, should I allow you to have such a thing?"

"All the work you have done these past 18 months will be wasted if you do not give me what I need."

"What do you mean by that? My potion work? How can it all be wasted?"

"I meant..." she paused, with a straight face, unsure if she should continue.

"Go on..." he said coldly, not wishing to be kept in the dark.

Her eyes dropped to the flower in her hands that had wilted horribly from her excessive fondling of it. She heaved a sigh. "Do you believe in the ability to see into the future?" She asked so quietly that she was afraid he hadn't heard her. She certainly didn't want to repeat the question.

"It's... very rare." He drawled, with a slightly interested tone. "Do you have something that you want to say to me?"

Dahlia thought about it, but shook her head. "No, I was just... wondering."

Professor Snape crossed his arms over his chest. "If you want some of this potion, you'll have to give me something in return."

Dahlia shrugged. "I see no problem with that. What do you want?"

"Trust." He said simply.

"Pardon?"

"You expect me to trust you." Professor Snape said nonchalantly. "I think it's only fair that I can expect the same from you."

Dahlia tilted her head, hiding a smile, and giving the man before her a deep thought. Professor Snape didn't trust hardly anyone, but he just gave her a mild hint that she was growing on him. She gave a small nod. "Alright."

"If you find anything... _abnormal_ that you are having trouble with, do let me know- before it can drive you completely mad." His lips twitched, and Dahlia couldn't tell what he was trying to hide. A scowl? A sneer? A grin? Or could it have been a smirk? She wasn't sure.

She narrowed her eyes in frustration. She understood him, yet couldn't read half of his expressions. It was amazing that a person could make five different blank expressions. He was a special man, that was for sure.

"Two heads are much better than one, Miss Dursley."


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: Mm, Myrtle... Yeah, there's no other words that I can say about her...**

* * *

**Chapter 36-**

Albus leaned over toward Severus who watched the body of students with a frozen sneer on his face. "The Jayradox is working..." he murmured so only Severus could hear.

Severus turned his head slightly just enough to look Albus in the eye. "Already?" He whispered.

Albus gave a tiny nod.

"Incredible..." Severus' eyes glazed over. The potion had worked. The girl had proven herself yet again. He really should stop doubting her; everything she had said had been true. Well, except for the Divi flowers growing under his apple tree- something that still confused him.

His eyes found Miss Dursley at the Gryffindor table. She appeared to be returning to her normal self- slowly. She was actually conversing with her friends again. And, just yesterday, he had watched the complete group of the seven Gryffindors and Slytherins slip into a room to study for their upcoming exams. Exams that were still months away, but, like last year, they were getting a head start. Perhaps Miss Dursley would bring her grades back up. It had disappointed him that someone with so much potential had let it all slip away in just under four months.

She still hadn't told him about the book, but she had it, he'd bet his life on it. He supposed Miss Dursley would tell him when she was ready; when she was desperate enough. She was a true Gryffindor, stubborn as a bloody mule. Their mascot should have been a jackass. Severus let a grunt of amusement escape his throat.

"An estimation of a year has been made." Albus said.

"Just that little?" Severus raised an eyebrow. "After all those two have been through? After all these years?"

"It is a phenomenal potion indeed." Now Albus was staring at Miss Dursley with his eyes sparkling wildly. "Much like the person who brought it into this age."

"Someone else probably discovered it." Severus grumbled. "We're claiming credit for another person's work..."

"It's meant to be." The old wizard didn't seem to mind the idea. "Otherwise she wouldn't have suggested it."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Has she done anything that would make you believe she's selfish?"

"No..."

"Her motives are purely immaculate. "

* _/_ *

"Tom Riddle..." Myrtle hummed out the name. "Yeah, I remember him. He was quite a good looking boy." A wide smile spanned across her face.

"Yeah..." Dahlia agreed with a wrinkled nose. Good looking or not, he was still a bad person.

"I seen him naked once." Myrtle whispered with a wicked grin.

"Um... okay." Dahlia's response was uncomfortable.

"I didn't think a penis could be so big at that age."

Dahlia snorted out in laughter. "You have no limits, do you?"

"Ah, just you wait, Lia." Myrtle said. "You'll only need to see one, and that's all it'll take. Everything on the inside will tingle and the sight of a good look boy or man will make your heart rate pick up." She winked.

Dahlia's eyes widened at the thought. When she was younger- much younger, she had had glimpses of the males in her house, but that was much different. They were her family. The intimate part of a male was nothing to get excited over. They kind of all looked the same anyway, just like the female parts did. Could she really have a different opinion now that she was six years older?

"I even saw him and a girl have a sexual moment." Myrtle said smugly.

"You did?" Dahlia gasped out in surprise. By what Riddle had told her, it didn't sound like he had so much as snogged a girl.

"Oh yes." Myrtle purred. " You should have heard Abagail's moans. Tom definitely knew what he was doing." She then frowned. "It kind of made me envious. I never got to do anything like that."

"Well, fourteen is a bit young." Dahlia pointed out, while also wondering why a girl would moan during such an activity.

"Oh, you'd be surprised." Myrtle sung out. "Some students are a bit... vigorous."

"Lia...?" Draco stood just inside the bathroom, eyeing her and the books she was surrounded by,

"Get out!" Myrtle instantly shouted. "Can't you read?! This is a girl's bathroom!"

Draco jumped a bit at the cross voice of Myrtle's before he grinned. "You're not so scary."

"Scary?" Myrtle questioned, a bit dumbfounded. "Who said I was scary?"

Draco gave a careless shrug. "It's a silly rumor. One of the fifth years in my house said you like to haunt this bathroom and succeed in scaring students."

Myrtle huffed, insulted. "What are you doing in here?" She asked with her arms crossed along her chest.

"I was wanting to talk with Miss Dursley." he and Dahlia exchanged smiles.

"Ooh, I see." Myrtle giggled with amusement, eyeing the two second years. She floated to Draco and circled around him. "Yes, I can see why you like him." Myrtle nodded, speaking to Dahlia.

Draco quirked up an eyebrow. "Do you now?" He asked Dahlia.

"Well, I can't like a boy who spends no less than one second than I do prettying himself in front the mirror." Dahlia replied, turning her attention to her astronomy book.

"I think you should kiss her." Myrtle suggested to Draco with a low, taunting voice.

"Huh?" He choked out.

Dahlia unconsciously bit her lip. She'd never kissed a boy before. Well, not _that_ way. Judging by Draco's reaction, she doubted he'd ever kissed a girl.

"Oh, are you a kissing virgin?" Myrtle asked the stunned boy.

"Well...I... uh... NO!" He finally burst out. "I mean... I've kissed a girl before..." he said with a shrug, trying to pretend it was no big deal.

"And did you use your tongue?" Myrtle asked eagerly, wanting to hear all the details.

"No... that's pretty... disgusting..." Draco said, giving it a thought.

"That's not what your friend thinks." Myrtle said with a purr.

"Which one?" Draco demanded for an answer.

"The Italian one."

"Blaise has... tongue kissed a girl?"

Mrytle nodded with shining eyes. "And then more."

Draco looked down at Dahlia, wetting his lips. She had kept silent, listening to the two, and couldn't help having had picked up Draco's tones of voice. Going from shocked, to curious, to envious. She knew where this was going. She met his grey eyes and noticed that her pulse had started skipping, as if she had just ran up a flight of stairs. His breathing had picked up. He still stood at the door, with his mouth slightly open, deep in thought on what Myrtle had just informed him with.

"Well?" Myrtle prompted. "Are you two going to kiss or not? I can just feel the chemistry. Okay, not _really_ , but it's definitely there."

Draco looked away helplessly. "I have a status to keep." He said quietly. "If news came out that the Malfoy heir was crushing for a mudblood, my family's name would be kicked around as if it were some disobedient house elf. So, I can't show any sign of liking you. The only reason I have been able to get away with our friendship was because of you being Harry's cousin."

Dahhia knew he was right, and understood his reasoning. Perhaps she could even agree with it. He needed to keep his status with the Slytherins so the union between their houses could successfully be made. Besides, she couldn't get close to anyone.

"Let me ask you something."

"Sure...?" he eyed her warily.

"You really are my friend?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Of course. I just have to keep it low keyed."

Dahlia nodded. "So what are you going to do about your crushing feelings for me?"

He sighed and shook his head, staring at her. "I don't know." He said.

"Maybe it's just temporary." she told him softly, hiding her disappointment.

"Merlin, I hope so." He muttered.

"Gee, thanks a lot!" Dahlia said, feeling insulted.

"I didn't mean it that way." Draco said apologetically. "If I weren't a Malfoy, it would be different."

She nodded, but didn't say anything.

"I am rare; nearly extinct. In fact... my parents will probably plan my betrothal next year. It happens with most pureblood families."

"That's... awful..." Dahlia searched his face for what he thought of it.

"There's not many pureblood girls to choose from." Draco wrinkled his nose. "Father is very close to Mr. Parkinson. I bet I'll get stuck with Pansy."

"Ewww!" Dahlia shrieked. That girl was a snobby, nosy, ugly girl. Not to mention, there was rumors of her spending the summer kissing a boy from Durmstang. Although, some of the boys found this interesting, and, anyone of them that she was willing to give her time to, were practically lining up to get close with her.

"Indeed. She acts like she's something, but she's nothing. I deserve better." Draco said bluntly.

"Like a mudblood, hmm?" Dahlia teased.

Draco scoffed. "See you tomorrow." he grunted, choosing to not comment on that. He turned his back on her and quickly left.

Dahlia stared at the door, thinking hard about his situation. She couldn't help but to pity Draco. It was not much different than her having to tolerate the disgusting toad of a Craig. Thankfully, Mum couldn't force her to marry that boy, but Dahlia had an idea that it may be different for Draco. He had a lot of weight resting on his young shoulders. She had only been a part of this world for a year to understand that being the sole heir of a Wizard family was very important. Especially to those pure, or close to it. She couldn't help thinking on how behind the times the wizards were. With as powerful as they were, they sure lacked a much needed liberation.


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N: So um... *clears throat* Slash mentioning starts here - Finally! Don't get excited though, it's nothing... to get excited about, really... Next Chapter after this introduces us to the angst genre of the story. Be warned...  
**

* * *

**Chapter 37-**

Draco lay in his bed with his hands behind his head thinking about what the ghost girl had said. Zabini had already kissed a girl, not just some childish peck on the lips, but a real kiss. Like what Father did to Mother.

And then some. Myrtle's voice repeated in his mind.

"Have either of you ever tongue kissed someone before?" He asked his roommates before he gave it much more thought.

Vincent and Gregory didn't say anything. They were probably shocked by the question, each thinking on whether or not to lie about it.

"Yeah..." Gregory finally answered, his voice low and uneasy.

Great... Gregory Goyle tongue kissed before him. How did that happen? Who would kiss him anyway? He wasn't popular and no girls had seemed to pay him any attention.

"It was wonderful." Vincent added.

Draco sat up in his bed, his mouth gaped open. "You too?!"

His friend blushed and turned his face to hide his embarrassment. "Well, sure..." he mumbled.

"Which girls did you kiss?" Draco was highly interested now. Both of his under average, overweight friends had intimately kissed a girl way before himself, he just couldn't grasp the idea.

It was Gregory's turn to mumble with embarrassment, making Draco ask him to repeat what he had said.

"He said... he hasn't kiss a girl." Vincent answered for his friend cautiously, eyeing Draco, expecting some sort of reaction.

Draco's eyes narrowed with confusion. "But you just told me you tongue kissed-" Both Vincent and Gregory looked away, avoiding eye contact with him. "What's your problem?" He demanded. "Did you or didn't you tongue kiss someone?" He gasped out as it dawned on him what they had meant. "You kissed each other?" He asked in a whisper.

Gregory covered his head with his blanket, a tiny squeak coming out from under the large mound he had made, and Vincent gave a small nod.

"Wow..." Draco wasn't all too surprised. With as much time as they often spent together, anyone would have thought they had came from the same embryo. They had so much in common and had never really showed any interest in girls; no interest in anything really besides each other. It probably didn't help that there had been stories of their mothers having a sexual relationship with each other; Draco having over heard his Godfather and Father speaking about it with wistfulness. Apparently two women kissing was a man's dream.

"No reason to be ashamed, boys." Draco said with a shrug.

"Really?" Gregory asked through his blanket.

"Did you think I was going to end our friendship just because you like each other?"

"Well... yeah..." Vincent sputtered out.

"That would be a very dumb reason to end a lifelong friendship, wouldn't you think? Besides, I am kind of intrigued by this. How does it work?"

"Huh?" Gregory lifted the blanket from his head.

"Teach me. You've had practice I assume? All those detentions alone together?" Draco's eyebrows raised up.

"You want us to kiss you?" Vincent was astonished.

"No!" Draco burst out in laughter, amused by the question. "I want you to kiss each other. With your tongues. Show me how it's done." He would hate to be a bumbling idiot when it was his turn to kiss like that. Which was going to be soon. Like bloody hell he was going to be the last of their year to not have done it. He wondered how many other peers of his had kissed with their tongues. Had Ron, Harry, or Hermione?

And had Lia? It wouldn't surprise him, with as pretty as she was.

Of course beauty made no difference. His Slytherin friends just proved him that. And if the rumors about Pansy were true-

Draco shuddered. Merlin help him, if he got paired with that girl, he'd kill himself.

He watched his friends do the task very slowly, extremely uncomfortable to have him watching them do something they considered private. Well, Draco couldn't blame them, he probably wouldn't like someone watching him either.

Draco chuckled when they were finished. "You two." He shook his head in disbelief, not sure if he would have done the same for one of them. "You're good friends to me." He said seriously. He earned wide smiles with his comment.

Gregory and Vincent; two Slytherins, eager to please. They were perfect for each other.

Draco then wondered which one of them would take the others name if they ever had gotten married.

Ah, that's still many years away. He told himself, but it didn't stop his curious, wandering mind.

* _/_ *

The names of girls swirled around his head, while he tried deciding which girl he deemed worthy enough to earn such a kiss from him. A particular girl in Ravenclaw, Mariam Fundlelopp, came to his mind, but he noticed that she was eyeing some bloke in Hufflepuff.

Diggory...

Cedric Diggory, the most popular Hufflepuff.

"Nothing like shooting for the moon, Fundlelopp." He muttered under his breath. Practically all the girls from Hufflepuff had dibs on him. Draco had overheard it plenty of times. Apparently even Huffies fought with each other; when it came to the opposite sex.

Eventually, it didn't matter who he racked his brain for, it always ended up at the same girl, whose green eyes could nearly hypnotize him. He glanced at her from across the Great Hall. How many times did he have to remind himself that she was forbidden? Apparently that didn't matter at all to the tiny voice inside of his head though. She was the only one he wanted to kiss.

He pressed his lips together, his stomach leaping at the thought of their lips touching. She didn't seem reluctant to Myrtle's suggestion that they should kiss. Well, who would really? He was good looking, rich, and pure. All perfect qualities for kissing. He was sure a lot of girls fantasied about him, but until recently, he hadn't give it much thought.

"Draco..." Pansy sat across the table from him, her foot tapped his, and she gave him a smile that she, no doubt, thought would be appealing to him.

Draco readjusted his foot and pretended to have not noticed her flirtatious gesturing. "Hmm?" He asked, smearing jam on a piece of bread.

"What are you doing tonight?" Pansy asked sweetly. He about groaned in disgust when she started twirling her hair around her finger, and stared at him with her brown eyes.

"Studying." He quickly replied.

"How about you study with me?"

Draco heard Blaise let out a chuckle. "What's so funny?" Draco snapped at him.

He shook his head, but the smirk he wore told Draco that he was wordlessly teasing him. Blaise must had known about Pansy's sudden crush on him, which had started just the other day after Draco had been dumb enough to pick up a quill that she had clumsily dropped in History class. Since then, she had been like a love sick puppy.

Annoyingly sweet and much too clingy.

"He's going to study with us." Gregory told Pansy. "I doubt you'll have a problem with that, will you?" He challenged the girl.

Pansy wrinkled her nose and huffed. "Draco has room for new friends, you and the Gryffies can't hog him all the time."

"Here! Here!" Blaise raised his goblet in agreement, snickering at Draco.

"I already made arrangements. Perhaps another time." Draco said getting up and stalking for the bathroom, muttering under his breath.

What was with Zabini anyway? He took any moment he could to tease him, Draco wanted to hex him, and would have if they had not been in front of the Head Table, where they could easily get into trouble.

Just before he went to slip into the bathroom, he heard a shriek.

"Oh my Lord! I can't belie- Why did you do that?!" A girl cried hysterically.

Miss Dursley?

"Ha! Wow, I hadn't meant to hit you, but now that it's been done-" a male giggled. "Well, brown is a good color for you!"

Draco rounded the corner to see Peeves' eyes shining brightly, stuck in a series of giggles, looking at a very upset Miss Dursley, who was...

_Crying?_

Draco never thought he would ever see her cry.

He wrinkled his nose at the foul smell that quickly invaded his nose, and realized why she was crying.

A dung bomb.

Normally he would have laughed at her, but the fact that she was sitting on her knees, shedding tears, he just couldn't find any humor in her distress. Hideous substances were a big weakness for her, stopping most of her train of thought if she was in the presence of anything she deemed disgusting and unsanitary.

He approached her, nose still wrinkled from the smell. Draco watched her heave up her dinner, creating an additional foul mess. When he got a good look at the damage, he understood why she was upset. Her beautiful hair, in which he knew she spent a good thirty minutes every morning to make it look in top shape, had been caked with the gloppy mud like dung bomb.

Peeves was still laughing. Something inside of Draco flared up. He scowled at the hovering man who thought it was funny that Miss Dursley was going for a second around of hurling.

"You're a bloody prick!" Draco snarled, taking out his wand. "You think that's funny?! This ought to make you laugh!" He summoned up a Quidditch paddle and charmed it to chase Peeves around, hitting him on the head rapidly if Peeves stopped for too long. The poltergeist's wails echoed down the hallway as he tried escaping the beating.

Draco scourgified Miss Dursley clean, having to cast several spells to get her completely washed. "You're alright." He announced when he was finished. She sniffed and he helped her to her feet before she ran to the girl's bathroom.

Draco stood in the middle of the corridor, silently arguing with himself. One part told him to return to what he had originally been doing before he had come across the girl. But the other part told him to go check on her, and make sure she was truly alright.

Naturally, the latter voice was the one he listened to. He stopped just outside of the bathroom that still said it was out of order. Draco took a quick look around before he went in.

Miss Dursley stood at one of the many sinks, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. Myrtle was in the middle of a series of soothing words. "I'll scream at him when I see him next." The ghost said, before she tried setting her hand on Miss Dursley's shoulder. A sad look went across the ghost's face.

Draco cleared his throat to announce his presence. Both the girls looked at him, Miss Dursley stiffened before looking back at the mirror and began fiddling with her hair.

Even with puffy, red eyes, she was pretty. Draco admitted to himself. "Sorry about Peeves." He said quietly.

"It was just so _disgusting_!" Miss Dursley shrieked, another flow of tears came out. "And... he just laughed at me! How humiliating!"

Draco approached her. "It's over now, you're all clean. I removed all traces of the shat." She took a deep breath to calm herself and held it in. At the same time, she thoroughly inspected her hair. He watched her lips slowly form into a faint smile.

"You did do a good job." She whispered, peering at her reflection. She then turned around so fast that he about jumped at her sudden movement. Before he knew it, her arms were around him, and she was thanking him.

_Then she..._

_Then she..._

_She kissed his cheek..._

The action left him speechless. It was such a soft touch, and, at the same time, it was exhilarating. The pumping of his veins increased in speed. For a moment, all he heard was the pounding of his pulse, echoing inside his ears. Then the shock wore off, and Draco found himself stopping her as she pulled away from the hug.

"Wait." He said softly, his steel grey eyes locking in on her bright green, almond shaped ones. His mouth suddenly felt dry, and Miss Dursley's eyes lowered as she watched him nervously wet his lips.

"Draco...?" She questioned him as she looked at his hands that were clasped around her upper arms.

"I changed my mind!" He said hastily, and pressed his lips to hers.


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: Warnings for this chapter: Semi Dark, Creepy, and Graphic.**

* * *

****Chapter 38-** **

It was just a simple kiss; over before she knew it. It had been so quick that she hadn't even had time to partake, but it was enough to leave Dahlia in a daze. Her lips slightly tingled from where Draco's touch had just left.

Dahlia backed away from him, putting distance between them, her breathing had became heavy. They exchanged shy smiles before she chuckled. "How could you kiss the lips of a tainted girl?" She asked mockingly.

"Easily, it appears." He replied quietly.

"So, um...what about your family and all that other stuff you said the other day? You had my support. Did you realize that? I understood your situation. Completely."

Draco nodded. "You're right." He grumbled. "What in the bloody hell was I thinking?" He turned around from her abruptly.

"You can't continue this. It has to end here."

"Does it really?" He asked, without looking at her, seemingly on the fence on what he should do.

"Well, if you're going to have a wife planned shortly- yes. And if you want to honour your family's name-" she stopped when he turned around, eyes narrowed at her.

They spoke no words for several moments until Draco said, "My father... he knows..."

"About what?"

"About you, and my... well, whatever this is; crush?"

"That didn't go over well, did it?"

"Better than you would think." A smile on his face. "You know what he told me? He said not to display my affection in public. Do you know what that really means?"

"That we can't do this again." Dahlia told him reasonably.

Draco swept toward her, his eyes sparkling, shifting back and forth from each one of hers. "To a Slytherin, it means just the opposite. A Slytherin just wouldn't be a Slytherin if he didn't have a secret. Wouldn't you agree?"

Dahlia couldn't stop herself from grinning at his deceitfulness. "You are such a bad boy, Draco. There's a reason I sure love the House of Snakes. You must be very specific with them."

* _/_ *

Draco Malfoy could act really well.

When they were around other people, Draco did as he had always done, pretending as if nothing secretive was occurring between the two of them. But if he met up with Dahlia privately, be it on purpose, or just coincidental, his lips stretched into an adoring smile, and Dahlia would return it. Dahlia would enjoy this while she could. It would have to stop once his future wife was decided. He'd have to honour that, and she would too, but why not enjoy just a moment's bliss while it knocked on her door for a visit?

Draco hadn't kissed Dahlia since that day. Dahlia wasn't sure if he was being shy, or just trying not to overwhelm the both of them; their friendship was worth much more than just moment of passion. She thought about it a lot though, often touching her lips with her fingers, wishing for his warm touch again.

Dahlia noticed that Pansy Parkinson had been slinking around Draco lately, practically begging for his attention. It made Dahlia happy to see that he was brushing her off. Unfortunately, Dahlia knew that was only making the situation worse, increasing Pansy's want for the blonde.

God, Dahlia hoped he'd get a much better girl than that one. She shuddered at the thought of Pansy kissing Draco. It was a torturous thought, making her purse her lips in disturbance.

"Hey, listen to this," Hermione spoke to the group a few days later. They were sitting in a classroom studying for that year's exams, hundreds of books piled atop of the table. "Salazar Slytherin could speak to snakes." She informed them, intrigued by the thought.

"You didn't know?" Draco asked. "Parseltongue it's called."

"Very rare 'gift' to have." Ron said through a mouthful of a licorice wand. "It's rumored that anyone who has had the ability was a dark wizard."

Harry's mouth dropped. "It-it can't be true." He insisted. "Someone good must have been able to speak to snakes."

"My father said only the actual heirs of Slytherin can speak parseltongue, which is why it's so rare to have. The bloodline is extinct." Draco said.

"Heir of Slytherin?" Dahlia intstantly had a horrid feeling. Could Harry truly be the Heir of Slytherin? Had Tom Riddle reprocreated much as he had been against the idea? And if so, had he known it and just acted differently? If he knew, why would Voldemort want to kill his own kin?

"You can't always believe rumors." Dahlia said for Harry's benefit who looked troublesome, likely thinking that he was going to become some dark wizard because of his ability to speak with snakes.

Draco shrugged, flipping a page to his History book. "They aren't always fabricated."

"No, but a lot are." She told him firmly.

Draco lifted his head to look at Dahlia, narrowing his eyes in cogitation. "You're certainly defending the idea a bit too irrationally." He drawled.

"People are quick to judge, all because of a gift or a flaw someone has. You can not make a proper judgement on a person merely by what talent or power they have."

Draco looked like he didn't believe her. He set his quill down smoothly and folded his hands on top of the table. "What are you hiding, Lia?" He asked.

"Nothing." She said immediately.

"You seem so persistent on this subject." He argued. "Are you more Slytherin than we thought, hmm? Is that why you have a cute little snake for a pet? Why you master the potions with snake teeth?"

Dahlia couldn't look away from his shining grey eyes. He was fascinated with the idea of her talking to snakes. She knew he was just teasing her, but. The way the others looked at her, awaiting an answer, made her uneasy.

"She can't talk to snakes." Harry said with finality to his voice. "And it's not evil to talk to them."

Hermione didn't look like she agreed with Harry, she stared at Dahlia, like she was a poisonous snake ready to strike. Likely swirling Dahlia's wandless magic gift around in her head.

Dahlia wasn't evil! She wasn't bad! She was good!

_A woman fought for her life, struggling through a gag as she attempted to breath. Her hands were stuck to her body in some sort of bind._

_Dahlia cried out and removed the butcher knife that stuck straight out of the woman's neck. She screamed as blood gushed out and the woman sputtered, choking on her blood._

_"Mummy!" Tears poured from Dahlia's eyes. She dropped the knife and tried to stop the flow with her hands. "Please don't die, Mummy!" she wailed. The woman strained to say something back but couldn't get it out in time, then her body went still._

_"I won't tell the world what you did." The green haired man whispered above Dahlia._

_She trembled next to the dead woman, whose glassy, green eyes lifelessly stared back at her, haunting her. The stab wound on her neck was still erupting with blood. Dahlia had been too weak to heal it. Too young. Too little. Too helpless._

_"No!" Dahlia crawled away from the corpse, her bloody hands leaving behind hand prints on the wood flooring beneath her._

_"I won't tell the world that you're evil." The green hair man assured her. "It was just an accident, right, my dear?"_

_"I didn't-"_

_"Now, don't lie, child." He scolded gently. "You're old enough to know better than that."_

_Dahlia shook her head violently. "I didn't hurt Mummy!" She screamed. "I didn't!"_

_"You were the only one here." He told her. "And I saw you holding the knife."_

_"No!" The child cried. "I didn't!"_

_The green haired man knelt beside her. "Just barely eight years old..." He mused to himself. "You are going to be someone grand one day, you can bet on that."_

_"Mummy...!" She sobbed, her eyes leaving his to look back at her mother._

_"You don't need that whore anymore, Dahlia. I'm here for you now." He encased her hands into his and the blood washed away. "I'm all you'll ever need." He picked her up into his arms. "Stop crying now, it'll be alright. We'll pick your mother flowers for her final goodbye, would you like that, my evil little one?" He asked sweetly._

"I am not evil!" Dahlia shrieked, standing up and gathering her books. "I am good!" She frantically whispered to herself, hurrying out of the room, not noticing that the group had gotten up to do the same.

"Lia!" Harry called, chasing after her. "Stop!" He paused at the bathroom she had slipped in. Draco brushed passed him, and went in as if he did it every day.

"What are you doing?" Harry hissed, after sticking his head inside of the bathroom.

"Don't be a chicken, Harry, get in here!"

"Oh, are we having a party?" Myrtle sang out happily as the whole group piled in. She frowned when she noticed Dahlia sitting on the edge of a wash tub, whispering four words in repetition. "Oh, what's wrong?" She asked alarmingly. "What happened?"

"Draco accused her of speaking to snakes." Harry said bitterly, shooting a glare at the blond.

"Well, I was only playing!" Draco demanded. "She normally doesn't take what I say so seriously." He said. "You know that!"

"He's right, Harry." Hermione agreed, chewing her lower lip.

"I am not evil." Dahlia whispered to herself.

"She's completely gone mad!" Ron exclaimed.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39-**

Severus scowled and remained silent as the bloke, Lockhart, rambled on about the potion he had used on the Giant Leader to make it faint and then stunning the rest of the herd with a powerful stupefy.

Severus shook his head. Where the fuck did Dumbledore find this goon? The students were better off skipping the Dark Arts for the year than with this liar.

Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle pulled his mind from the thought of throttling the fellow wizard he was forced to work with. They had just stepped into the girls' bathroom.

Lifting up an eyebrow and relieved to have the ability to excuse himself from Lockhart, Severus stopped at the girls' bathroom door. The bathroom was out of order, due to the moping teenaged ghost, but he knocked just the same before opening the door a crack. "Everyone better be decent." He called coldly before stepping in slowly, not sure what to find. He had learned in his ten year career of being a professor that anything should be expected when it came down to a bunch of underage children.

His eyes narrowed down at the crowd. Miss Dursley was sandwiched between Harry and Draco, all three sitting on the edge of a tub, Miss Granger was wringing her hands, nervous as a little mouse, like anytime she was ever caught doing something wrong. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Crabbe, and Mr. Goyle hung back, unsure what to do. "What is going on in here?" Severus demanded.

"Professor." Harry breathed. "Dahlia..." he said helplessly, his green eyes pleading for help. "She's-"

"Freaking out." Draco interrupted. "You've got to help her."

_Freaking out?_

Severus studied the girl between the boys. Indeed, she appeared to be an absolute wreck. Her eyes were out of focus, her body slightly shaking, and she was whispering words. The same words over and over. _"I am not evil."_

"Miss Dursley?" He asked to see if she'd acknowledge him. "Alright, give me space." He told the boys when she didn't respond, and conjured a potion to ease hysteria as Draco and Harry removed themselves from her sides. He tilted her head up to look into her eyes; they were glazed and her pupils were dilated.

"What happened?" Severus directed to the others. Together, the group explained it to him. Severus was puzzled. The story they told should not be suffice enough to trigger such a reaction.

He gently tilted Miss Dursley's head back and opened her lips to trickle the potion down her throat. The girl's eyes, still glazed in terror, instantly found his dark ones, she stared at him blankly for many moments. Tears pooled in them and trailed down her cheek. "Don't do it..." she whispered fearfully. "Please don't do it..."

Severus swallowed uneasily. It was incredibly strange how alike she was to Lily. How could she sound so much like her? And look so much like her? She wasn't even really her niece.

Miss Dursley's shakes ceased shortly. Severus held out another potion for her. A potion that would replenish her energy after such an ordeal. "This too." He said, knowing she would take the second one on her own, noticing her normal self returning.

"Thank you." She said weakly, carefully taking it from him. She wrinkled her face from the taste. "I swear that tastes like sweaty feet!"

Finding his task finished, Severus pocketed the empty vials and stood back up, inspecting her for a few more moments before reminding the boys that they were in a girls bathroom. Then Severus left the bathroom to report the incident to Dumbledore, knowing the wizard would be interested about the event. Maybe he would be able to come up with a theory to answer Severus' own questions.

"She is recalling her past, Severus." Albus explained after Severus told him what had happened in the girl's bathroom.

"She may need some anti-traumatic potions."

"Sadly, we can not allow that."

"Why not?"

"If they didn't think she could handle the job, she wouldn't be here." Albus said pointedly.

"So we're supposed to just let her suffer?!" Severus barked. "Dumbledore, we've been entrusted to keep her healthy, if the Dursleys, who are her relatives according to how everyone sees it, find out this is happening to the person they think is their daughter, we could have a major problem on our hands!"

Albus nodded. "I understand that, Severus, this is a very tricky situation, but we can not interfere with the process of her remembrance. This is how it's going to have to be. It surely sounded like she knew what she was getting into when she came to this era."

"Yes, but she doesn't know who she really is right now! She sees herself just like everyone else does- a twelve year old girl!"

"But that is not true, Severus. You said so yourself that she is thinking that she is a some sort of visionary. Everybody knows that that sort of gift comes with great costs. Miss Dursley is an intelligent girl to which she probably already understands."

"This is going to come back and bite us in the arse!" Severus grumbled..

"We can only hope for the best. It appears that she has told you more than anyone, perhaps you could try to get her to talk more about the subject."

Severus sighed. "When did I become the Hogwarts Student Counselor?"

"Since you became the Head of Slytherin- Part of the job description, my boy." Albus gave him a bit of a wink.

"She's not even a Slytherin." He complained. "And I already tried to get her to talk to me- she's clamped completely tight."

"I do not blame her one bit, Severus. She has seen things no child should ever see."

* _/_ *

"Just stop!" Dahlia cried desperately. "Please!" For the past several days, Harry and his friends had been bugging her. Worried about her. Pestering her. They just wouldn't leave her alone!

She didn't want to talk to anyone! She couldn't really explain her nightmares to them, because she, herself, couldn't understand them!

Ron had already accused her of going mad, and she was starting to believe him. Harry practically wouldn't leave her side unless she needed to use the loo or go up to her dorm. Hermione would spout off several reasons that she had read from an abundance of books which could be the cause Dahlia's issues. And Harry blamed Draco for her sudden behavior because they had all thought it stemmed from the episode she had had a week ago. Thus, the two friends were always arguing back and forth, Draco denying the accusations.

The professors were just as bad. Professor Snape watched her closely in every class or when ever she was in his presence, and Professor McGonagall urged Dahlia to talk about her feelings with her. The other teachers just gave her sympathetic looks, or talked gently to her, afraid she was going to have another breakdown.

The rest of the school didn't appear to notice, but maybe it was kept a secret, Dahlia didn't know, nor did she spend much time thinking about it. She had been too absorbed in more important thoughts to really pay much attention to that.

Who was that man with the green hair? Why was he suddenly invading her mind? And why had she called that woman her mother? Her mother was not that woman. Her mother was alive and well. Dahlia wasn't eight years old either. She was twelve.

_But that man called her by her name..._

Maybe she will be reincarnated at a later time?

_Ron's right. I'm going nutty. I'm as fruity as a fruit cake._

"Harry, stop blaming Draco, it is not his fault at all! Hermione, you're not going to find the solution or cause of my problem in a bloody book! And Ron, if you call me nutty one time, I'll give you the bloodiest nose you've ever had in your life- with this!" She raised a fist threateningly, breathing hard with annoyance.

Ron shrunk back behind Harry. "Won't happen again!" He said fearfully, eyeing her fist with budging, wide eyes.

"Now, I refuse to be the fault of this group falling apart! No matter what happens to me, you must all stay friends." Dahlia took a deep breath, looking at each one of the kids in their group. They all thought she was crazy; not just Ron. He had just been the one to actually say it.

She sighed. "Look... I'm just having nightmares-"

"That occur while you're awake." Draco crossed his arms, looking as if he was about to demand an explanation.

"When I figure it all out, perhaps I'll be able to explain." Dahlia told him.

"Why would you need to figure out a bad dream?" Harry asked.

Dahlia closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath, counting to five before releasing it, in an effort to not explode out in anger. "Just please... Give me some space and stop bothering me. You're only making it worse!" Tears welled into her eyes from the frustration, the fear, and the anger that she was going through. Dahlia turned on her heel and stormed out of the bathroom.

"They are only worried about you." Myrtle said cautiously, following her down the corridor.

"They are not helping me though." Dahlia said. "I can't think with them fighting and their useless attempts in consoling me. I am more literal than that. I just need answers. I need to figure this all out. I wouldn't be dreaming of it if it had no meaning."

"Another vision? For sure?" Myrtle asked quietly.

Dahlia nodded, swallowing a forming lump in her throat. "If I don't find out what it means, I think I may be the cause of many peoples deaths." She hastily wiped an abundance of fallen tears from her face, annoyed that she couldn't stop herself from crying like a worthless ninny. "I don't know what to do!"

"It'll come to you."

"I'll be honest... I'm terrified of that man with the strange hair. More than I am of Voldemort- which is saying something." She swallowed another lump. "He's dangerous. I can feel it..."

"If it helps, I don't think you're going crazy." Myrtle said gently. "And I don't think the others would either- if they knew..."

"Yet, if I can't explain everything clearly to any one of them, then no one will believe me for a second, and I'll sound crazier than they already think I am. I'm stuck on my own until I can make sense of my visions."

Professor Snape held Dahlia back in Potions the next day. Locking the door and casting a muffling spell on the room.

Dahlia remained in her seat, removing the grime that had gotten underneath her finger nails, a task she did after every Potions and Herbology class, but this time it was mostly done to avoid the stare of the Potion Master's black eyes.

"There is no valid reason in keeping me here, Professor." She broke the silence. "My grade is 79; a passing score, and I did nothing wrong in class."

"You seem to be a reserved and an independent young lady, Miss Dursley. Am I correct to assume this?"

Dahlia narrowed her eyes at her desk in confusion, wondering what would make him ask such a thing. "You are..." she said slowly.

"You have friends that you don't want to have. You are often the center of attention unless you duck yourself behind a wall, a door, or sometimes even closing yourself up inside of a bathroom. And yet, you insist on looking your absolute best, which counter products your whole agenda in being invisible."

"I fail to see your point in this, sir." Dahlia said bluntly.

She still refused to turn her head to look at him, and he must have sensed it, because in the next moment, faint footsteps were heard walking across the stone floor of the dungeon and he sat himself across from her, looking silly from the undersized chair he sat in. Dahlia let out a quiet scoff from the sight.

"Glad I can be a riot to you." He muttered sarcastically, shifting in his seat to find a comfortable position. "Now, I don't know exactly what is going on, but something is troubling you. Sometimes talking about it helps."

Dahlia snorted softly. "Drew the short straw today, did you?"

Professor Snape pressed his lips together. "No..."

"You don't follow your own advice, Professor, so why should I?"

"Do as I say and not as I do?" His face was set into complete seriousness. "Listen," he started quietly. "A fresh mind can surely address a problem with a different perspective-"

"Maybe I don't have a problem." She interrupted him, shrugging. "Maybe I am really going through teenaged hormones like everyone has been accusing me of. Who really cares what it is, so long as I start acting normal again, hmm?" Dahlia blinked back tears, cursing herself for crying like a dumb, little girl.

"But we both know it's not that, don't we, child? Didn't you tell me when we first met that you were not a normal person? Far from it?"

Dahlia opened her mouth, about to agree with him, but she shut it back up, shaking her head. Dahlia couldn't tell him either. There was no possible way that an _adult_ would believe her. She stiffened and took a deep breath. "If I am not in trouble, sir, I would like to go now, thank you." She said curtly.

His eyes narrowed darkly, and she was sure he was going to scold her, but all he did was nod. "Fine then." He muttered, waving his hand to dismiss her.

"What I need is a place to think." Dahlia told Myrtle later that night. "To just... get away... from people, school, teachers. From life."

"Oh...!" Myrtle squealed suddenly. "I may know a way to make that happen!"

Dahlia followed the excited ghost up two flights of stairs before they stopped at a wall.

"Okay, Lia, say that all again." Myrtle instructed, looking at the wall intensely.

Dahlia did, but not before giving her friend a strange look. A pale yellow door appeared right before her eyes. Myrtle excitedly gestured Dahlia to open it.

"Tom Riddle went here a lot. To pretty much do the same thing." Myrtle informed.

Dahlia looked around after stepping in. A small table sat in the center of the room that had a pastel yellow carpet with sunset orange coloured walls. A fireplace was across from the entrance door, blazing warmly with dancing flames of fire. A huge, comfy white sofa sat off to the right side of the room, and on the left was several shelves of books to read.

"A place to think and relax." Dahlia was amazed at how easily it had came for her.

"It changes all the time." Myrtle said. "Once it was an archery range, and another time, it was just filled with a bunch of balloons!"

"It will do perfectly, Myrtle. Thanks, you're an absolute gem."


	40. Chapter 40

****Chapter 40-** **

Dahlia lost track of the time once she had settled herself inside the special room that Myrtle had shown her. Here, she felt at peace, even though she was concentrating on unraveling the horrors of what her mind was trying to tell her.

The younger age of Dahlia in her vision confused her the most, even aside from the woman she had called her mother. The fact that the man had simply acknowledged Dahlia's presence in the vision, made her believe that it was a moment in the future and not in the past.

Was her mind trying to hint that she would eventually be deaged? She had learned from Professor McGonagall that deaging wasn't impossible, but she had also said that the person would know their mental age. The Dahlia in her vision definitely had a younger mind than herself.

Dahlia replayed it over and over, taking in every moment and thing in the vision. The place that the vision took place in was overly clean, except for the blood from the woman. It appeared that they were between the threshold of the kitchen and a foyer of a bright and warm large home. The floor was wooden, made of jig saw puzzle shape pieces of boards. All the decor was pretty vibrant colors of greens, blues, and even pink.

What the woman wore was a bit strange. It wasn't an average robe, nor was it modern Muggle wear. What ever it was, looked like a one piece set of shortened robes, like a bathrobe, patched together with many irregular shaped pieces of silky fabric, each a different pale pastel color. The woman wore matching knee socks, and, on her feet, she had solid blue, plain looking slippers like that from a fairy tale, such as Cinderella or The Wizard of Oz.

The eight year old Dahlia seemed to not put up a fight with the the green haired man, giving her the idea that she probably had been introduced to him before the woman's death. He didn't look very old at all, perhaps in his thirties. He was tall, broad shouldered, with lengthy limbs, especially his arms. He had thin, green eyebrows, that were a bit darker than his short, spiky hair. His lips were cherry red, looking as if he may had applied lipstick to them. His eyes were coal black.

The man wore a similar outfit to what the woman did, but his was not patchy and multicolored. His strange robes were blood red with black cuffings, black knee socks, and black and red shoes that reminded Dahlia of a hiking boot, but more classy.

Even though he seemed overly nice to Dahlia, she would not ignore her gut feeling on what she felt about him. He actually reminded her a bit of Riddle. He showed no remorse for the dead woman; much more concerned about the young girl. Almost too much. _Obsessive._ The man appeared to care about her, but in a very creepy way. Like a psychopath.

The way he just took over made Dahlia quite uneasy. He accused Dahlia of being evil, and was extremely giddy over the thought, making Dahlia believe even more that he was not a good person.

But who in the bloody hell was he?

* _/_ *

Severus stood over his cauldron, stirring a brew of the Jayradox potion. He was going to use it to bargain with to get Miss Dursley to talk with him. Perhaps if he offered a trade, she would open up to him. If this didn't work, he'd start a new project, learning from past experiences that that would draw the girl's attention. He would have done it sooner except that he wasn't sure what he wanted to make next. Miss Dursley wanted a few of these anyway, and Dumbledore had given him the permission to allow her to have them.

A knock sounded on his office door. Severus flicked his wand lazily, releasing his locking spell and opening the door. Albus hastily came in, the serious look on the old man's face made Severus abandon his brew.

"Miss Granger has reported that her room mate has not returned to their dorm room." Albus informed. "No one has seen her for hours."

Severus swept out from around his desk. "She was not at dinner tonight."

Albus nodded. "I know. A search party has been formed. All the prefects and teachers are currently looking."

"Floor by floor?" Severus confirmed.

"Indeed."

"Has anyone asked the Weasley twins? They always seem to know where everyone is."

"Yes, they have already been asked, and they have offered to help."

The castle was busy, searching for the missing girl, the Weasley twins had special permission to help, feeling a bit special for the privilege of roaming the castle well after curfew.

"I don't see her on the map, George."

George held his wand up to the Marauders Map for extra light. "She must not be in the castle then."

"Would she really wander out past dark?" Fred asked full of doubt.

George lifted a shoulder in thought. "Aye, probably not... But it's also not like her not to be in her dorm by curfew."

Unbeknown to the teachers, Harry had ventured out of the common room, much to the orders by Professor McGonagall to stay put.

"Harry!" Hermione had scolded when he began climbing out through portrait hole.

"I'm going to look for my sister!" Harry snapped. "You can stay here if you'd like." Ron and Hermione exchanged looks before following their friend to search for Dahlia.

"Do you think she's just hauled up in a corner somewhere, lost in another moment of hysterics?" Ron asked.

"I don't know." Harry said impatiently. "I've just got to find her, and make sure she's okay. She's been acting so strange lately. It bothers me that she won't talk to me. We've never hid anything from each other."

"I'd hate to have nightmares so bad that it leaves me in a trance." Ron shuddered. "Spiders are creepy, but I am not THAT frightened of them."

"Whatever she's dreaming about must be pretty bad." Hermione frowned.

Harry didn't add to the conversation, intent on finding Dahlia.

"Harry, do you realize how big Hogwarts is? It would take us literally a month of constantly looking to cover every inch of this place." Hermione said.

"I don't need your trivial facts right now." He replied through grit teeth.

Meanwhile, way at the bottom of the castle, Draco stood by the exit to the Slytherin common room, waiting for a moment to slip out unseen. "Stay here." He muttered to Vincent and Gregory, tapping the wall swiftly with his wand and hurrying out.

"We're going with you." Vincent said a moment later, puffing behind him.

Draco stopped short and snapped around, narrowing his eyes at them. "You are not going to risk Slytherin house points."

"Well, you are!" Gregory pointed out.

"That's different." Draco huffed arrogantly.

"She's our friend too!" Vincent growled. "And we're going to help search for her."

Draco stared at his friends for several moments, slightly dumbfounded by Vincent's claim. "A mudblood." He drawled amusingly.

"Yeah? So what?"

"We've seen how you look at her!" Gregory hissed. "How you defend her-"

"You like her." Vincent summarized. "And we do too."

Draco's eyebrows lifted up in surprise. "A mud-"

"Merlin!" Vincent grumbled, tossing up his hands. "After all this time?"

"You're still going to call her a mudblood?" Gregory asked. "Even while talking in privacy to us?"

Draco was not going to answer that. He needed to remember she was a mudblood, for if he forgot just for one moment, he was sure he would get lost and never find his way out. He abruptly turned from them, stalking stealthily up the corridor. The first place he'd check was the bathroom.

* / *

Severus held his wand out. The tip was lit brightly, lighting up the complete corridor of the sixth floor. Harsh whispering made him turn his head toward the direction it had come from.

"Filch's cat." A feminine voice murmured.

Severus cast a noise enhancing spell, allowing him to hear better.

"Shh!" A another voice whispered, coming from the fifth and sixth floor staircase.

_Potter..._

Severus noxed his wand and tip toed around the corner in the darkness, his eyes adjusting expertly to the solid blackness.

"We better hurry." Miss Granger advised. The group of three Gryffindors approaching the corner Severus concealed himself up in. "Mrs. Norris will tell Filch where we are."

" _Lumos_." Severus muttered out loud, strictly for an eerie effect, perfectly able to light his wand wordlessly.

Miss Granger let out a squeak when his wand lit up, revealing his location and Weasley looked about to faint. _But Potter..._ He looked neither upset nor scared that he had been caught out of bed by the dark wizard.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for wandering the castle in the night." Severus drawled, almost delightfully. "Back to your common room." He pointed to the direction they had came from.

"Yes, sir." Miss Granger quivered, turning around, likely relieved that the punishment was only that. Mr. Weasley quickly followed suite, but not Potter... He remained rooted.

"No." Potter said firmly. His eyebrows creased stubbornly, reminding Severus of... No, not of his father... but... his _mother_.

Severus glared down at the boy. His heart suddenly thumping with sorrow, painful memories haunting his mind. "You will not disobey your authority, Pot-"

"Unless you plan on attacking me with your wand, nothing is going to stop me from searching for her." Potter said. "You can deduct points, take away my Quidditch privileges, assign me a gazillion detentions- I don't bloody care about any of that!"

"Harry!" Miss Granger scolded softly. "Don't-"

"All I care about is my sister." Potter said with determination. He stalked passed Severus, sending him a look, silently daring Severus to stop him.

Those bold green eyes pierced Severus sharply. Excruciatingly. Yet... he could not help but to admire them, for all he saw at that moment was his beloved Lily. A twelve year old Lily, scolding at him with harsh attitude for his rude manners, for what, he couldn't even remember anymore. Lily, who he had loved- still loved-, had been so well mannered, and had expected him to be the same. He had grew up with little to no guidance, practically having had raised himself and she had helped him so much during their friendship.

Severus had to swallow the threat of a sob from escaping his throat. He refrained from sighing in defeat. He'd have to deal with Potter later. Now, they had to find the girl. The girl that had whittled into all of their lives, much like Lily had when she was still alive.

The walk was quiet as the three Gryffindor students and Professor Snape searched the sixth floor, separating to check every room, closet, corner, and nook. But she was not on that level and so they ventured up to the seventh floor.

"Hey, what's that?" Ron asked a while later, pointing ahead to the left with squinted eyes.

" _Raycious._ " Harry muttered, making the light at the tip of his wand beam out like a flashlight. Something glistened back at them when the light found it. Something metal. When the students approached it, the group discovered that it was a serving tray, full of untouched food. It sat in front of a closed yellow door.

"Locked." Ron announced after attempting to turn the knob. Hermione tried unlocking it with a spell but it did not work. Professor Snape had made his way to the second years. He eyed the door and waved his wand at it. He stepped back, watching his pupils with interest as they made a grand amount of effort to gain access to the room behind the door. Several minutes later, the wizard rolled his eyes slightly. They had yet to realize that there was no possible way to enter the room.

"I know she's in there!" Harry kicked the door in frustration. "Why won't she open the door?"

"And why can't we get in?" Hermione asked.

"Why aren't you helping, Professor?" Harry demanded, once he had noticed the Potions Master standing there with crossed arms.

The professor gave a small smirk, looking at the door. "A very useful room indeed. Inside is a tiny closet and it will remain locked until the person who closed it opens it back up again."

Harry sat beside the door. "I'll wait for her then." He said stubbornly.

"What if she doesn't come out?" Ron's face flushed with worry. "What if she's stuck in one of those trances?"

Harry gave his friend a death stare. " _She will come out._ " He seethed.

Severus nodded to himself ever so slightly. He knew there was nothing he could do or say to make this boy remove himself from the door. "Mr. Weasley, Miss. Granger, go back to your common room. Potter is right, she's most likely in there. The search is over."

The three students looked at him cautiously before Ron followed Hermione, the two slowly making their way back to the Gryffindor House wing.

Severus stood at the opposite wall, facing the door and Harry. The boy picked at a loose string on his robes, perking up anytime a sound was made, hopeful that Miss Dursley was opening the door to reveal herself.

Someone knew Miss Dursley was here. Otherwise the food wouldn't be placed at the floor. Severus guessed that it was a house elf though, by the way everything was arranged perfectly on the tray.

"So, I guess I'm in a lot of trouble, huh?" Harry spoke up quietly.

"Oh, _very_ , yes." Severus answered, his voice silken. Miss Dursley's qualities must had worn off on Potter. A student had to be awfully stupid to defy him. To the girl's credit, she had been lost in thought, her mind blocking out everything around her. Potter was different though. He had done it deliberately.

 _For good reason._ A small voice inside his head said. _You'd have done it for Lily. She had done it for you several times._

"Are you going to expel me?"

Severus didn't reply right away. Memories of Lily piling back to him. He could never forget about her, but there were some memories that he had not thought about in forever. Long ago packed away, deep inside his mind, afraid to admit that he was once a coward.

Lily liked adventure, often getting them both into dangerous situations. It did not take the young Severus long to realize why she had been sorted into Gryffindor. While she didn't _try_ to get them in trouble, it happened quite a bit.

She loved to explore, and they had found this very same closet that Harry and him were outside of one day after James Potter and his gang had chased the eleven year old Severus there. At the time, Severus knew not how to defend himself, and he didn't know what to do except how to run. Something he did at a lot at home. Run and hide.

_"Snivilous..." James Potter sang out. "Come play with us."_

_"We want to try a new spell." Sirius Black added._

_"We promise it wont hurt." James giggled._

_Frantically, Lily pulled Severus by the hand and stuffed him inside a door, locking him up inside._

_"No!" Severus yelped out, pounding on the door. It was locked, he could not get out! "Lily!" He cried. "Let me out! Please!" The boy feared they would attack her instead._

_"Get lost, Potter!" Severus heard Lily snap._

_"Evans, where's the baby bat?" James sneered. "He's in there, isn't he?" A pounding from the outside followed._

_"Leave him be!" Lily shrieked. "He's done nothing to you!"_

_"We only want to give him a reason to cry." Sirius whined mockingly._

_"How do you open the door, Evans?" James ordered after trying several spells._

_"I'll never tell!" She told him. "And if you don't leave, I'll hex you all!"_

_James laughed deeply in complete amusement. "A goody two shoes like you?"_

_"Take on the three of us?" Sirius added, also laughing._

_"You bet your rear end!" She said hotly._

_"Get out of the way, **girly**." The next thing Severus heard was a chorus of yelps and a stampede of steps running away._

_"Gosh, Evans! We were only playing!" James wailed._

_Moments later, Lily opened the door and hugged Severus. "Are you okay?" He asked, searching her for anything that the gang may have done for her._

_Lily scowled, looking back at the way that the boys must have disappeared off too. "They didn't like my boil hex." She frowned in disturbance. "I did warn them." She said with a sigh._

"It takes a lot to get expelled." Severus finally answered."Some students have done much worse than defying a teacher, and didn't get expelled." _Like nearly killing me with a teenage werewolf._ He thought bitterly. "Nonetheless, if you were my kin, you would not see the light of day for six months." He growled.

"It would be impossible to do my studies if that were done, Professor. Herbology takes place outside."

"Cheeky little chap, aren't you?" Severus snarled.

Harry sighed. "I guess I'll deserve whatever is thrown at me, but Lia is all too important to me. I did what I had to do."

"You referred her as your sister earlier..." Severus inquired, interested in hearing what the boy had to say about this.

"Without her, I'd have nothing." Harry avoided Severus' stare. "She was my only friend until you came by help her buy school supplies."

"What do _I_ have to do with your inability to make friends?"

"You brought her magic out into the open, awaking the whole family to their ignorance. It snowballed from that moment." He looked up, eyes full of thoughtfulness. "It is not only her that I can thank for my life though."

Severus stiffened, inhaling deeply. Suddenly he was feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I was only doing my job, Potter." He said stoically. The boy was thanking him? The Potter _spawn_ was actually _thanking_ him?!

"I know you don't like me." Harry's words were slow and careful. "But Lia says you're a good man. She can tell if someone is good or evil." Harry gave a bit of a shrug. "I trust her. I know you and my dad didn't get along- for what reason I don't know, and I know that you don't like me because of that. But Lia also taught me to not judge someone because of their father or mother, sister or brother. A person is his own; Draco is an excellent example of that."

Harry's words left Severus speechless. He could not believe what the boy had said. Severus had been waiting, all this time, for Harry to show the signs of his father who had horridly teased him and been the reason that Lily had ended their friendship. Then the bloody man married Lily. Claimed Lily as his. Even rubbed it in after he and Lily had started dating. For two years since meeting Harry, all Severus could wait for was the day when the Potter boy would mimic the actions of his father, but Severus mostly saw just Lily in the boy. The only thing Harry did that reminded Severus of James Potter was the quidditch playing. A subject both father and son had taken seriously.

Severus took a breath, readying himself to say something to Harry. Maybe he was going nutty, he could not believe what he was about to say to the boy. "I may not have gotten along with your father, but your mother and I, we were once good friends. Much like yourself and your cousin."


End file.
